Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 First stage (1236-1237)
3 Second stage (1237-1238)
4 Third stage (1238-1239)
5 Fourth stage (1239-1240)
6 Fifth stage (1240-1242)
6.1 Activities of the northern corps
6.2 Activities of the southern corps
6.3 Return to the east
9 Bibliography
9.1 Sources
Introduction
Western campaign of the Mongols ( Kipchak campaign) - the campaign of the troops of the Mongol Empire in Eastern Europe in 1236-1242. led by Chingizid Batu and commander Subedei.
1. Background
For the first time, the task of conquering the Kipchaks, as well as the task of reaching the city of Kyiv, was assigned to Subedei by Genghis Khan in 1221:
After the victory in the battle on the Kalka River (over Mi-chi-sy-lao, that is, the Mstislavs), the Mongols abandoned the plan to march on Kyiv and were defeated by the Volga Bulgars on their way to the east in 1224.
Genghis Khan gave control to his son Jochi " country of the Kipchaks"(Polovtsy) and instructed him to take care of the expansion of possessions, including at the expense of Russian lands. After the death of Jochi in 1227, the lands of his ulus pass to his son, Batu. Genghis Khan's son Ogedei became the Great Khan. The Persian historian Rashid al-Din writes that Ogedei " in pursuance of the decree given by Genghis Khan in the name of Jochi, entrusted the conquest of the Northern countries to members of his house».
In 1228-1229, having ascended the throne, Ogedei sent two 30,000-strong corps to the west (at the same time, the Mongol troops were operating on other fronts). One, led by Chormagan, south of the Caspian Sea against the last Khorezm Shah Jalal ad-Din (he was defeated and died in 1231), to Khorasan and Iraq. Another, led by Subedei and Kokoshay, north of the Caspian Sea against the Kipchaks and Volga Bulgars, who were defeated in the battle on the Yaik River already in 1229 (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.
First stage (1236-1237)
The troops sent to help the Jochids set out on a campaign in the spring of 1236 and in the autumn joined Batu within the Volga Bulgaria. The cities of Bulgar, Bilyar, Kernek, Zhukotin, Suvar scattered ashes.
The Bulgar refugees were received by Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir and settled in the Volga cities. Rashid-ad-Din relates the encirclement and defeat of the Bulars camp by Batu and Shiban near a large river to the events in Volga Bulgaria, this is the basis of the version about the independent conquest of Bulgaria by the Jochids and the movement of Munk's corps already in 1236 by a more southerly route, along the Polovtsian steppes. In Juvaini, “Kelars and Bashgirds, a large people of Christian confession, who, they say, live next to the Franks” opposed the Mongols after the Mongol invasion of Russia, presumably we are talking about the battle on the Chaio River in Hungary in the spring of 1241.
After the defeat of Bulgaria, in the spring and summer of 1237, troops led by Batu, Horde, Berke, Guyuk, Kadan, Buri and Kulkan invaded the lands of the Burtases and Mordovians. The Hungarian missionary monk, Dominican Julian, who preached in the Polovtsian steppes, writes about one of the princes " Mordukans"(Mordovians), which," speaking on the same day ..., with all his people and family ... submitted to the Tatars". In the annals of Waverley Monastery, under the year 1239, there is an "Epistle of the Hungarian Bishop to the Bishop of Paris about the Tartars", which says: “... On the way ahead of them (Tatars) there are certain tribes called Mordans, who indiscriminately destroy people they meet”. The first replenishment of the Mongol army at the expense of the defeated Polovtsy and the Volga peoples before the campaign against North-Eastern Russia is also reported by Foma Splitsky.
Munke and Buchek moved south from Bulgaria along the Polovtsian steppes along the two banks of the Volga. Polovtsian Khan Kotyan Sutoevich together with 40 thousand of his people left for Hungary. Rashid ad-Din writes about the leader of the Polovtsian resistance captured in the summer of 1237 (in the summer of 1238, according to R.P. Khrapachevsky), captured on one of the Volga islands: “Bachman begged that Mengu-kaan [himself] with his blessed hand brought his work to an end; he [Mengu-kaan] instructed his brother Buchek to cut Bachman in two” and speaks of the first clash with the Alans, a North Caucasian people.
Second stage (1237-1238)
Julian reports that in the autumn of 1237 the entire Mongol army was divided into four parts, three of which were preparing to invade Russia in the winter: “Now, being on the borders of Russia, we have closely learned the real truth that the entire army marching to the countries of the West, divided into four parts. One part near the river Etil (Volga) on the borders of Russia from the eastern edge approached Suzdal. The other part in the south was already attacking the borders of Ryazan, another Russian principality. The third part stopped against the Don River, near the castle Oveheruch, also Russian principalities. They, as the Russians themselves verbally conveyed to us, the Hungarians and Bulgarians who fled before them, are waiting for the earth, rivers and swamps to freeze with the onset of the coming winter, after which it will be easy for the whole multitude of Tatars to plunder the whole of Russia, the whole country of the Russians.
According to Rashid-ad-Din (and the Chinese "History of the Mongols"), Munch participated in a campaign against North-Eastern Russia. He calls him a later "kaan" and talks about how he "personally performed heroic deeds until he defeated them [the Russians]." 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.
After the defeat of the troops of the Ryazan Principality, the Mongols took Ryazan on December 21, 1237, after the battle near Kolomna with the combined forces of North-Eastern Russia in the first days of January 1238, in which Genghis Khan's son Kulkhan died, Kolomna fell. Then the Mongol army was overtaken by a detachment of Yevpatiy Kolovrat, who had returned from Chernigov. The most stubborn resistance to the Mongols was provided by Moscow (taken on January 20), Vladimir (February 7), Pereslavl-Zalessky, Tver, Torzhok (March 5), Kozelsk (beginning of May 1238). At the beginning of March 1238, the minor forces of the Mongols, thanks to the surprise factor, were able to destroy the combined Russian army in the parking lot and kill Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir in the Battle of the City. Veliky Novgorod, the largest city in the northern part of the Volga trade route, was not reached.
Third stage (1238-1239)
It is possible that in the summer of 1238 (and not in the summer of 1237) the Polovtsian uprising was suppressed by Munke and Buchek and the Alans were defeated. The next action of the southern corps of Munke (together with Kadan) was the victory over the Circassians (the western neighbors of the Alans) and the murder of their ruler at the end of 1238.
At the turn of 1238-1239, an uprising of the Volga Bulgars and Mordovians began in the Volga region. Rashid-ad-Din writes about the Bulgars:
There was a new invasion of the lands of North-Eastern Russia (the environs of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets, Gorokhovets, Murom, Ryazan were devastated).
Berke, sent west against the Polovtsy, captured three Polovtsian commanders and on March 3, 1239, took Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny, the possession of the Vladimir princes, which, when Daniil Galitsky traveled to Batu in 1245, was under the direct rule of the Golden Horde. Presumably, the Ryazan principality was in the same position until 1252, until the wounded and captured in December 1237, the only one (see Ingvar Ingvarevich) who survived from the Ryazan princes during the invasion, Oleg Ingvarevich Krasny, was released there.
Fourth stage (1239-1240)
In the autumn of 1239, the Mongols directed a blow at the possessions of Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov and Kyiv. Chernigov was besieged by the Mongols on October 18, 1239 and taken using powerful siege equipment. During the siege, an army led by Mstislav Glebovich, Mikhail's cousin, came to the aid of the city, but was defeated. After the fall of Chernigov, the Mongols did not go north - archaeological research showed that Lyubech (in the north) was not touched, but the lands and cities along the Desna and the Seim were plundered and devastated, including Putivl, Glukhov, Vyr and Rylsk. According to one version, Munke led the campaign against the Chernihiv Principality.
At the end of 1239, the troops of Guyuk, Munke, Buri, and Kadan launched an offensive against the city of Minkas (M.k.s., Me-tse-sy). According to Rashid ad-Din, the siege of the city lasted one month and 15 days. According to Juvaini, the city was rich and populous, its surroundings are covered with swamps and dense forest, it was taken by the Chingizids together in a few days and became the extreme point of advance of the Mongols in Russia. The Chinese "Yuan-shih" calls Me-tse-sy an Alanian city and specifies that the siege began in late November-early December 1239 and lasted 3 months.
Detachments of Shiban, Buchek and Buri (he is mentioned during the siege of Minkas) on December 26, 1239 took Sourozh in the Crimea.
Munch approached the Dnieper opposite Kyiv (R.P. Khrapachevsky, a supporter of the version of Munch's siege of Minkas in the North Caucasus, dates this event to the winter of 6748 no earlier than February-March 1240 and calls reconnaissance), sent an embassy to the city demanding surrender, but the embassy was destroyed by the people of Kiev. Mikhail Vsevolodovich (together with Mstislav Glebovich) left for Hungary, trying to marry Anna, the daughter of the Hungarian king Bela IV, to his son Rostislav (unsuccessfully), then to Poland to Konrad of Mazowiecki.
abstract
Topic: Mongol invasion of Europe and its consequences for Russia
Introduction
The 13th century for Russia (Rus) is the struggle of the Russian people for their independence against the Mongolian, German, Swedish, Danish, Hungarian and Polish feudal lords who took up arms; in the end, the significance of these events is difficult to overestimate. One has only to think about the consequences of the Mongol victory: the ruin of prosperous countries with ancient culture, (China, Persia), the destruction of the magnificent kingdom of Khorezm into a plain, the destruction of the best Russian cities with their developing civilization, the massacre and plunder of property, was a stunning blow that deafened Russian people and disrupted the normal continuation of economic and political life for many years.
Expansion was one of the important and fateful moments in the history of mankind. In terms of the extent of its destruction and influence on further events, it may be equal to the barbarian attacks of the 5th century, which overturned the Roman Empire, putting an end to the ancient world.
The Mongol-Tatar invasion, the campaigns of 1237-1238 and 1240-1242, without any doubt can be considered a huge disaster for Russia
The consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the campaigns of 1237-1238 and 1240-1242 are difficult to consider from a positive side. But, nevertheless, Russia has never become the same, for 200 years, together with the people, the principles of life of which did not fit into the framework of the consciousness of the Russian people, were sharply polar. Regardless of the assessment of the past centuries, it must be said that its consequences were enormous and determined the future path of the Russian state in many areas of its development.
In the abstract, I will consider: the beginning, development and final results of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia and European countries.
MAIN PART
In the XII century. Mongolian tribes occupied the steppe territory in the valleys of the rivers Onon and Kerulen. The Mongols were hunters and cattle breeders, raising sheep and horses. As the number of livestock increased between individual Mongol clans, clashes began over pastures, which escalated into bloody wars. During these clashes, a native of the Noyon clan Temuchin advanced. Having united his father's old friends around him, Temujin completely slaughtered the Tatars, and then dealt with his comrades-in-arms, who stood in the way of sole power. In 1206, a congress of the Mongol nobility (kurultai) proclaimed Temuchin the great kagan of all Mongols - Chizgis Khan. 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.
From 1206 to 1211 Genghis Khan waged wars of conquest in North Asia. He subjugated the Buryats, Yakuts, Kirghiz, Tanguts, Uighurs, conquered Primorye.
In 1211-1218. Mongols conquered Northern China (Jin Empire), Korea. At that time, the Mongols did not go to the populous and waterlogged South China (Song Empire). In China, the Mongols mastered military equipment (siege engines). In the course of the conquest of China, the principles of building the Mongol army, fixed in the law of Genghis Khan - Yasa, were finally formed. Warriors united in tens-hundreds-thousands-tumens. A dozen were warriors from one aul (clan). There was a strict discipline: for cowardice in battle, one was executed by the entire dozen. A coward was not taken to the warriors, he became an outcast. Each warrior had two horses, leather armor, two bows with arrows, a saber, a battle ax, a light spear, and in heavy cavalry, a heavy spear and sword.
In 1219, the Mongols invaded the largest Central Asian state - Khorezm. Khorezm Shah did not enjoy the support of the clergy and local khans. He did not dare to open battle, but preferred the defense of fortresses. The Mongols, numerically inferior to the Khorezmians, defeated them in parts. Many cities voluntarily opened the gates, believing the promises of the Mongols to spare the inhabitants. Everywhere, the Mongols drove artisans and young women into slavery, and killed the rest.
The Mongol conquest led the flourishing Central Asia to a long decline. The irrigation system was destroyed, desertification of the area occurred. Farming was supplanted by nomadic pastoralism.
Pursuing the Khorezm Shah, the advanced troops of the Mongols (tumen Subudai-Bagatur and Jebe-Noyon) bypassed the Caspian Sea from the south and invaded Transcaucasia. Through the Derbent Gorge, they went to the North Caucasus, where they met with the Polovtsians and Alans (ancestors of the Ossetians). Having assured the Polovtsy that they were fighting only against the Alans, the Mongols first defeated the Alans, and then the Polovtsy. After that, they invaded the Black Sea region, captured Sudak (Surozh) in the Crimea.
Opinion: According to the above history of the formation of the Mongol tribes and further conquest, we can see that in the leader of the tribes, Genghis Khan from the Temujin clan, there was no quality of mercy - he “cut out” entire nations. Behind him was strength and confidence. The goal is conquest, but the conquered territories were destroyed, desertified, people were forced to do not what they know how to do better, but what seemed right to their conquerors.
The Polovtsy, pressed by the Mongols, turned to the Russians for help. The Russian princes decided to help the Polovtsy and meet an unknown enemy outside their own land. They marched towards the Mongols. With a false retreat, they lured the Russians and Polovtsians to the banks of the river. Kalki. In June 1223 there was a battle on the Kalka. The troops of the Russian princes acted separately. They were carried away by the pursuit of the retreating light cavalry of the Mongols and came under attack from their main forces. The troops of Mstislav Udaly, Daniil of Galicia and Mstislav of Chernigov were defeated. The Kyiv regiments of Mstislav the Old did not take part in the battle, but were surrounded and forced to surrender. The Mongols laid boards on the captive princes and strangled them, feasting on them. However, the Mongols did not go to Russia then, because they did not have sufficient forces.
In 1227 Genghis Khan died. Before his death, he divided his empire into uluses. The western ulus went to his grandson Batu Khan (Batu). According to the will of Genghis Khan, the Mongols were to conquer the whole world up to the "Sea of Franks" in the west.
Opinion: The battle on the Kalka once again proved the strength of the Tatar-Mongol. The fragmentation and lack of a unified plan of action, the Russians and the Polovtsy suffered a crushing defeat. Kalka is the first battle between the Russians and the Mongols, but unfortunately it did not serve as a lesson to the Russian princes and did not prepare Russia for a meeting with a formidable enemy.
In 1235, the new kagan Ogedei and kurultai decided on a new campaign in Europe. The forces of other uluses were sent to help Batu Khan. In 1236, the Mongols ravaged the Volga Bulgaria and finally defeated the Polovtsy.
In December 1237, the Mongols invaded the border Ryazan principality. After 6 days of siege, Ryazan fell. The city was severely destroyed. Only a part of the Ryazans retreated to the Oka and united with the Suzdal troops. In the battle of Kolomna, the Russians were defeated.
The Mongols took and burned Kolomna, Moscow, besieged Vladimir. Grand Duke Yuri, leaving his family in Vladimir, retreated to the City River (north-west of Yaroslavl), where he tried to gather all the forces of North-Eastern Russia and give the Mongols a decisive battle. After a four-day siege, the Mongols broke through the oak walls of Vladimir and took the city by storm. The inhabitants and the family of the Grand Duke, who tried to hide in the Assumption Cathedral, were killed. After that, part of the Mongols moved to the Sit, and part - besieged Torzhok on the way to Novgorod.
On March 4, 1238, the Russians suffered a severe defeat in the City, the Grand Duke died. Torzhok, besieged by part of the Mongol army, fell after a heroic two-week resistance. The Mongols moved towards Novgorod, but did not reach it for about 100 versts and turned around. Apparently, the refusal to take Novgorod was due to the fear of mudslides and the fact that the Mongols had already secured their campaign in Europe from a Russian blow to the rear. In addition, the wooded area of northern Russia was not suitable for a nomadic economy. The Mongols were not going to live here, and they had already secured the receipt of tribute.
On the way back, the Mongols moved in a wide chain of battles, ruining the cities. Unexpectedly, stubborn resistance (7 weeks!) was put up by the small town of Kozelsk ("evil city"). The Mongols managed to take it only after receiving reinforcements and siege engines.
Opinion: Batu planned his campaign against North-Eastern Russia in winter, which ensured the maneuverability of his troops and the surprise of striking, since the princes were not ready for a major invasion in winter. It should be noted that the morale of the Mongol army played a decisive role in the victories, people were confident in their strength and believed in their superiority, while Russia was in a state of fragmentation and decline. The clash of these two factors produced disastrous results.
It began in the spring of 1239. Pereyaslavl fell in March, and Chernigov fell in October. In the autumn of 1240, the Mongols besieged Kyiv, which at that time belonged to Daniil of Galicia. Destroying the walls, the Mongols broke into the city and the battle unfolded on its streets. The last defenders gathered in the Church of the Tithes, but it collapsed (according to the chronicle - under the weight of people gathered on its roof, and more likely - under the blows of wall-beating machines). Kyiv fell.
Opinion: Northeastern Russia lies in ruins, but the princes of Southern Russia show carelessness and do nothing to protect their cities.
The result - fearing new invasions and destruction, the Russian princes accepted vassal dependence on the Horde. The invasion of Batu became the largest catastrophe in the history of Russia, led to the defeat of the East Slavic world. This invasion deprived Russia of further favorable historical prospects.
5. Campaign of Batu to Europe
After the defeat of Russia, the Mongol hordes moved to Europe. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the Balkan countries were devastated. The Mongols reached the borders of the German Empire, reached the Adriatic Sea. However, at the end of 1242 they suffered a series of setbacks in Bohemia and Hungary. From distant Karakorum came the news of the death of the great Khan Ogedei - the son of Genghis Khan. It was a convenient excuse to stop the difficult campaign. Batu turned his troops back to the east.
A decisive world-historical role in saving European civilization from the Mongol hordes was played by the heroic struggle against them by the Russians and other peoples of our country, who took the first blow from the invaders. In fierce battles in Russia, the best part of the Mongol army perished. The Mongols lost their offensive power. They could not but reckon with the liberation struggle unfolding in the rear of their troops.
Neva battle. The offensive of the knights especially intensified due to the weakening of Russia, which bled in the fight against the Mongol conquerors.
In July 1240, the Swedish feudal lords tried to take advantage of the plight of Russia. The Swedish fleet with an army on board entered the mouth of the Neva. Having risen along the Neva to the confluence of the Izhora River, the knightly cavalry landed on the shore. The Swedes wanted to capture the city of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod.
Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who was 20 years old at that time, with his retinue quickly rushed to the landing site. "We are few," he addressed his soldiers, "but God is not in power, but in truth." Covertly approaching the Swedes' camp, Alexander and his warriors struck at them, and a small militia led by Misha from Novgorod cut off the Swedes' path along which they could flee to their ships.
Alexander Yaroslavich was nicknamed Nevsky by the Russian people for the victory on the Neva. The significance of this victory is that it stopped the Swedish aggression to the east for a long time, retained Russia's access to the Baltic coast. (Peter I, emphasizing the right of Russia to the Baltic coast, founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the new capital on the site of the battle.)
Battle on the Ice. In the summer of the same 1240, the Livonian Order, as well as Danish and German knights, attacked Russia and captured the city of Izborsk. Soon, due to the betrayal of the posadnik Tverdila and part of the boyars, Pskov was taken (1241). Strife and strife led to the fact that Novgorod did not help its neighbors. And the struggle between the boyars and the prince in Novgorod itself ended with the expulsion of Alexander Nevsky from the city. Under these conditions, individual detachments of the crusaders found themselves 30 km from the walls of Novgorod. At the request of the veche, Alexander Nevsky returned to the city.
Together with his retinue, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received the news that the main forces of the Order were coming at him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the way for the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Russian prince showed himself as an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him:
"Winning everywhere, but we won't win at all." Alexander deployed troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Taking into account the construction of the knights by a "pig" (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky arranged his regiments in the form of a triangle, with a point resting on the shore. Before the battle, part of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull the knights off their horses.
On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which was called the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge broke through the center of the Russian position and hit the shore. The flank attacks of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like flares, they crushed the knightly "pig". The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Novgorodians drove them for seven versts across the ice, which by the spring had become weak in many places and collapsed under heavily armed soldiers. The Russians pursued the enemy, "flashed, rushing after him, as if through air," the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod chronicle, "400 Germans died in the battle, and 50 were taken prisoner" (German chronicles estimate the death toll at 25 knights). The captured knights were led in disgrace through the streets of the Lord Veliky Novgorod.
The significance of this victory lies in the fact that the military power of the Livonian Order was weakened. The response to the Battle of the Ice was the growth of the liberation struggle in the Baltic states. However, relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the thirteenth century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.
Russian lands under the rule of the Golden Horde. In the middle of the XIII century. one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, Khubulai moved his headquarters to Beijing, founding the Yuan dynasty. The rest of the Mongol state was nominally subordinate to the great khan in Karakorum. One of the sons of Genghis Khan - Chagatai (Jagatai) received the lands of most of Central Asia, and the grandson of Genghis Khan Zulagu owned the territory of Iran, part of Western and Central Asia and Transcaucasia. This ulus, isolated in 1265, is called the Hulaguid state after the name of the dynasty. Another grandson of Genghis Khan from his eldest son Jochi Batu founded the state of the Golden Horde.
Russian lands and the Golden Horde. The Russian lands devastated by the Mongols were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde. The unceasing struggle waged by the Russian people against the invaders forced the Mongol-Tatars to abandon the creation of their own administrative authorities in Russia. Russia retained its statehood. This was facilitated by the presence in Russia of its own administration and church organization. In addition, the lands of Russia were unsuitable for nomadic cattle breeding, in contrast, for example, to Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea region.
In 1243, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (12381246), the brother of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, who was killed on the Sit River, was called to the Khan's headquarters. Yaroslav recognized vassal dependence on the Golden Horde and received a label (letter) for the great reign of Vladimir and a golden plaque ("paydzu"), a kind of pass through the Horde territory. Following him, other princes reached out to the Horde.
To control the Russian lands, the institution of Baskak governors was created, the leaders of the Mongol Tatar military detachments, who monitored the activities of the Russian princes. The denunciation of the Baskaks to the Horde inevitably ended either with the summoning of the prince to Sarai (often he lost his label, and even his life), or with a punitive campaign in the unruly land. Suffice it to say that only in the last quarter of the 13th century. 14 similar campaigns were organized in Russian lands.
Some Russian princes, in an effort to get rid of your greasy dependence on the Horde as soon as possible, took the path of open armed resistance. However, the forces to overthrow the power of the invaders were still not enough. So, for example, in 1252 the regiments of the Vladimir and Galician-Volyn princes were defeated. This was well understood by Alexander Nevsky, from 1252 to 1263 the Grand Duke of Vladimir. He set a course for the restoration and recovery of the economy of the Russian lands. The policy of Alexander Nevsky was also supported by the Russian Church, which saw a great danger in Catholic expansion, and not in the tolerant rulers of the Golden Horde.
In 1257, the Mongolotatars undertook a census of the population "recording in number." Besermens (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, to whom the collection of tribute was given. The size of the tribute ("exit") was very large, only the "royal tribute", i.e. tribute in favor of the khan, which was first collected in kind, and then in money, amounted to 1300 kg of silver per YEAR. The permanent tribute was supplemented by "requests" for one-time requisitions in favor of the khan. In addition, deductions from trade duties, taxes for "feeding" the khan's officials, etc. went to the khan's treasury. In total there were 14 types of tributes in favor of the Tatars.
Census of the population in the 50-60s of the XIII century. marked by numerous uprisings of Russian people against the Baskaks, Khan's ambassadors, tribute collectors, scribes. In 1262, the inhabitants of Rostov, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, and Ustyug dealt with the tribute collectors, the Besermen. This led to the fact that the collection of tribute from the end of the XIII century. was handed over to the Russian princes.
Opinion: The incessant struggle of the Russians against the Mongol invaders played a historical role; this did not allow the occupying army to gain power and strike at Europe A.S. Pushkin rightly wrote: "Russia was determined to have a great destiny: its boundless plains absorbed the power of the Mongols and stopped their invasion on the very edge of Europe ... the emerging enlightenment was saved by torn to pieces by Russia." The struggle waged by the Russian people against the tormentors prompted the Tatars to abandon the creation of their administrative authorities on the territory of Russia, thereby we retained our statehood.
In the second half of the XIV century, the expansion of the Moscow principality continued. The Golden Horde, on the contrary, was weakening, exhausted by the civil strife of the khans. From 1360 to 1380, 14 rulers of the Horde were replaced. In the Russian lands, popular resistance to the Tatar-Mongol yoke intensified. In 1374, an uprising broke out in Nizhny Novgorod. The inhabitants of the city killed the ambassadors of the Horde Khan and their entire detachment.
From 1359 to 1389 the grandson of Ivan Kalita Dmitry Ivanovich reigned in Moscow. He was a talented military leader and a courageous patriot. If Ivan Kalita obtained peace from the Horde for the Russian people with gold, then his grandson led the people's struggle against the Mongol conquerors. In 1378, the Tatar governor Begich attacked the Ryazan principality with a large army. Dmitry Ivanovich came to the aid of Ryazan. On the banks of the Vozha River, a tributary of the Oka, his soldiers surrounded and almost completely destroyed the Tatar troops.
The Golden Horde Khan Mamai decided to deal with recalcitrant Moscow. He decided to repeat Batu's invasion. Mamai gathered hundreds of thousands of soldiers, entered into a military alliance with the Lithuanian prince Jagiello, and in August 1380 set out on a campaign against Moscow. Prince Dmitry, having learned about the movement of the Tatar troops, called on the Russian princes to unite to fight for liberation from the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Dmitri's call to Moscow was attended by princely squads and militias of peasants and artisans from Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Kostroma, Murom and other principalities. About 150 thousand horse and foot soldiers gathered.
Scouts sent by Prince Dmitry found that Mamai was standing near Voronezh, waiting for the approach of Jagiello's troops. Dmitry decided to prevent the connection of enemy forces. On the night of September 8, 1380, Russian troops crossed the Don and settled on the plain, which was called the Kulikovo field. (Fig. 1) The left flank of the Russian army, on which the main blow of the Tatars was supposed to fall, passed into the swampy banks of the Smolka. The right flank was also protected by the swampy banks of the Nepryadva River, as well as heavily armed Pskov and Polotsk cavalry squads. In the center of the big army, all the city regiments were brought together. The advanced regiment was still part of a large regiment, while the task of the sentry regiment was to start a battle and return to duty. Both regiments were supposed to weaken the force of the enemy strike on the main forces. Behind the large regiment was a private reserve (cavalry). In addition, a strong ambush regiment was created from selected cavalry under the command of experienced military leaders - governor Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky and Serpukhov prince Vladimir Andreevich. This regiment performed the task of a general reserve and was secretly located in the forest behind the left flank of the main forces.
The sun came up and dispersed the fog. Hordes of Mamai appeared in the distance. As usual, the battle began with a duel. The Russian warrior Peresvet and the Tatar Chelubey, having met on fast horses, pierced each other with spears and both fell dead. The Tatars fell like a continuous avalanche on the front regiment. The Russians accepted the battle without flinching. Soon the front regiment was destroyed. A mass of Tatars on foot and on horseback crashed into a large regiment led by Prince Dmitry. The Tatar cavalry hit the left flank of the Russian troops. The regiment of the left hand began to retreat. The Tatars broke through to the rear of a large regiment. At this time, an ambush cavalry regiment under the command of Prince Vladimir of Serpukhov and Volyn governor Dmitry Bobrok flew into the enemy like a whirlwind. Horror gripped the Tatars. It seemed to them that they were attacked by a huge fresh force. Mamai's cavalry took to flight and crushed their infantry. Mamai watched the battle from a high hill. Seeing the defeat of his troops, he threw a rich tent and rode away. The Russians pursued the enemy to the Beautiful Mecha River.
Moscow greeted the winners with the ringing of bells and general rejoicing. For the glorious victory, the people nicknamed Prince Dmitry - Dmitry Donskoy. The Battle of Kulikovo was of great importance. The Russian people realized that by united forces it was possible to achieve victory over foreign invaders. The prestige of Moscow as the center of the liberation movement rose even higher. The process of unification of Russian lands around Moscow accelerated.
Opinion: The Battle of Kulikovo and its victory gave a morale to the Russian people who had already lost faith in their strength and, in my opinion, set them up for further victories.
After the annexation of the Novgorod land, the Moscow principality turned into a large and strong state. By this time, the Golden Horde had collapsed. The Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean and Siberian khanates separated from it, living in constant enmity among themselves. Having concluded an alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray, Ivan III began to prepare for a break with the Horde. In 1478, Ivan III, in the presence of the Moscow boyars and the Horde ambassadors, broke and trampled on the agreement with the Horde, declaring that he would no longer obey the khan and pay tribute. Khan's ambassadors were expelled from Moscow.
Khan Akhmat of the Golden Horde decided to fight against recalcitrant Moscow. In the summer of 1480, with a large army, he approached the Ugra River, which flowed into the Oka near Kaluga. The Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV, dissatisfied with the fact that he had not been able to capture Novgorod, promised to help Akhmat and also began to prepare for a campaign against Moscow.
Ivan III set up his regiments on the opposite bank of the Ugra, blocking the way for the Tatars to Moscow. Many times the Tatar horsemen tried to cross the river, but the Russians met them with a rain of arrows and cannon fire. The battle on the Ugra continued for four days. Having lost a fair number of his soldiers, Akhmat abandoned the crossing.
Weeks, months passed, and Akhmat was still waiting for help from the Poles. But Casimir IV was not up to him. The Crimean Khan Girey, an ally of Ivan III, attacked the southern lands of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Akhmat received news that Russian detachments, sent on ships along the Volga by Ivan III, attacked the territory of the Golden Horde. November has come. Frosts have begun. The Tatars, dressed in summer, began to suffer greatly from the cold. Akhmat went with his army to the Volga. Soon he was killed by his rivals. Thus, the unification of Russian lands into a single centralized state led to the liberation of Russia from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The Russian state became independent. His international contacts have expanded significantly. Ambassadors from many countries of Western Europe came to Moscow. Ivan III began to be called the sovereign of all Russia, and the Russian state - Russia. Ivan III was married to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Paleolog. His marriage was used to strengthen the authority of Moscow. Moscow was declared the successor of Byzantium, the center of Orthodoxy. The Byzantine coat of arms - a double-headed eagle - was made the coat of arms of Russia.
A period of independent development began in the history of the Russian people. “Our great Russian land,” the chronicler wrote, “freed itself from the yoke and began to renew itself, as if it had passed from winter to a quiet spring.”
Opinion: The Battle of Kulikovo marked the beginning of the liberation of the Russian people from the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the absence of a strong leader among the Mongols (such as Batu), the unification of the Russian lands and the unification against a common enemy ultimately led to the liberation of Russia.
8. Consequence of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia
The problem of Mongol influence on Russia is complex and varied, of course. Here, a complex of important problems is considered. The main effect of the Mongol invasion: the present is the complete destruction of cities and populations; then the consequences of the conscious policy of the Mongol rulers for various aspects of Russian life.
Despite the huge number of opposing opinions about the degree of integration of the Russian and Mongolian societies, one can conclude that the transformation of Russia into the ulus of the Golden Horde led to the fact that its civilizational orbit shifted to the eastern side. The influence of Eastern civilization affected all aspects of life and intensified the civilizational split of Russia, which retains its European features.
Direct impact of Mongol domination
1) on the Russian national economy
Cities suffered the most in the catastrophe of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Such old centers of Russian civilization as Kyiv, Chernigov, Pereslavl, Ryazan, Suzdal and the somewhat younger Vladimir-Suzdal, as well as some other cities, were completely destroyed, and the first Novgorod, Pskov, Galich escaped ruin at this time. Mongolian policy to take the most skillful and skilled artisans into the service of the khan The dispersal of Russian craftsmen in the Mongolian world greatly depleted the source of experience directly in Russia for a while and could not but interrupt the development of production traditions. With the closure of enamel workshops in Kyiv in 1240 or the capture of their masters, the Russian art of cloisonné enamel, which had reached such a high level in Kievan Rus, also disappeared.
The drawing technique also fell into disuse after the Mongol invasion and only became popular again in the 16th century.
Another major loss due to the Mongol conquest was the art of stone carving.
The Mongol invasion and the policy of the Mongols towards artisans also greatly undermined Russian industrial production as a whole.
2) on the government and administration
It was during the period of the Mongol yoke and, perhaps, under the influence of Mongol judicial principles, that torture was included in the criminal procedure of Muscovite Russia.
With regard to the taxation system, the tribute remained the main source of income, and the plow - the main unit in taxation. Court fees were another important source of grand ducal income. In legal proceedings, only the most important cases were considered personally by the Grand Duke. Most of the crimes and cases were under the jurisdiction of his governors in every significant city and volostels in every rural area, who in turn were assisted by tiuns (judges) and closers (speakers). Since the grand ducal treasury did not have sufficient funds to pay salaries to all of the above officials, the grand duke had no choice but to allow them to "feed" from the area in which they were assigned. The roots of feeding go back to the Kyiv period, but it only acquired a universal character during the period of the Mongol yoke - over the decades of direct Mongol control, the people were accustomed to obey the authorities and fulfill their duty to the state.
The consequences of the Mongol conquest and the Golden Horde yoke for Russia. The Mongol invasion and the Golden Horde yoke became one of the reasons for the Russian lands lagging behind the developed countries of Western Europe. Huge damage was done to the economic, political and cultural development of Russia. Tens of thousands of people died in battle or were driven into slavery. A significant part of the income in the form of tribute went to the Horde.
The old agricultural centers and not once developed territories were abandoned and fell into decay. The border of agriculture moved to the north, the southern fertile soils received the name "Wild Field". Russian cities were subjected to mass ruin and destruction. Many handicrafts were simplified and sometimes disappeared, which hampered the creation of small-scale production and ultimately delayed economic development.
The Mongol conquest preserved political fragmentation. It weakened the ties between the various parts of the state. Traditional political and trade ties with other countries were disrupted. The vector of Russian foreign policy, passing along the "south - north" line (the fight against the nomadic danger, stable ties with Byzantium and through the Baltic with Europe) radically changed its direction to the "west-east". The pace of cultural development of the Russian lands slowed down.
The Russians inevitably had to introduce some Mongolian orders into their army. For example, the usual division of the armed forces of Muscovite Russia at the end of the fifteenth and in the sixteenth centuries into five large divisions definitely followed the Mongol structure. These units in Russian were called regiments. They were as follows: a large regiment (central unit); regiment of the right hand; regiment of the left hand; advanced regiment (vanguard) and guard regiment (rearguard). The phrases "right hand" and "left hand" correlate with Mongolian; like the Mongols, the division of the right hand in the Russian army was considered more important than the left.
3) to the social sphere
While military service became the main duty of the nobility and the nobility, as well as the basis of their attachment to the state, the townspeople and peasants bore the tax. Their main duties were to pay taxes and serve labor duties when required by the state. The consolidation of the draft social classes (which quantitatively made up the bulk of the nation) was completed during the 17th century. A long process, however, began in the Mongol period. The main factor at the initial stage of the process was the system of universal taxation and conscription, introduced in Russia by the Mongols.
In the period preceding the Mongol-Tatar yoke, residents of large cities did not pay taxes, they formed their own militia, in which they served as free citizens, and not called up soldiers. The conscription and taxation introduced by the Mongols, together with the restriction of the veche, radically changed the status of the urban class in Eastern Russia, and after liberation from the Mongols were used by the Grand Duke in the interests of his own government.
As you know, the church and its possessions were exempted by the government of the Golden Horde from taxes and other duties. Therefore, the peasants on the monastic lands bore only monastic duties, but not the state tax. On the contrary, peasants in other lands both paid tribute and were subject to military service. Paradoxical as it may sound, the privileges of the church were sharply reduced after the collapse of the Golden Horde and the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke of Moscow. The church now had to turn to the Grand Duke for confirmation of its privileges. Several grand-ducal charters granted administrative immunity to the church, but taxed the peasants of church estates. As a result, by 1500 the status of monastic peasants approached that of other categories of peasants.
Muscovites' familiarity with the Mongol way of conducting diplomacy greatly helped them in their relations with the Eastern powers, especially with the states that became the successors of the Golden Horde.
I agree with historians who believe that the Tatar-Mongol yoke threw back the development of our state 200 years ago, the state of “slaves” for two centuries could not go unnoticed. Because of this, there was a lag in the advancement of the country to the European level, the state "thrown" the Russian principalities back in its development and became the main root cause of Russia's lagging behind the West. I believe that the countries of Europe suffered less due to the fact that the main blow and forces were directed at Russian lands.
Subsequently, the yoke turned out to be a difficult factor for the growth of the productive forces of Russia, which were in a more progressive position compared to the productive forces of the Mongol-Tatars, the yoke for a long time stopped the process of land consolidation, the natural nature of agriculture, and ultimately led to increased feudal exploitation of the Russian people, who found himself under double oppression: his own and the Mongol-Tatar feudal lords.
Researchers - historians noted that during the yoke there was a decline in stone construction, the disappearance of crafts that were the pride of the Russian people: cloisonne enamel, niello, granulation, the production of glass decorations, polychrome glazed ceramics. At a time when Russia was actively developing, the industry of the West was only just moving on to primitive accumulation. For this reason, handicraft culture had to go through the same historical path that had been done before the invasion.
However, even Karamzin noted that the Tatar-Mongol yoke played an important role in the evolution of Russian statehood. In addition, he also pointed to the Horde as the obvious reason for the rise of the Moscow principality. Following him, Klyuchevsky also believed that the Horde had prevented exhausting internecine wars in Russia, and Gumilyov also noted that the process of consolidating Russian lands had already begun during the Yoke. In his opinion, the Tatars were not the cause of the crisis (cultural, political, moral) that struck the Russian principalities in the 13th century.
1. The crisis began before Batu's invasion.
2. he struck all the Russian principalities, regardless of whether they were invaded or not, whether they paid tribute or not, and if they paid, then for how long. The crisis was in all principalities and practically in all Orthodox states. Gumilyov believed that the crisis of Ancient Russia and the rise of Muscovy are associated with the patterns of ethnogenesis (You can also note the positive aspects of the yoke: such as improving the diplomatic side of the Russian state, lower taxes for Monasteries.
The time of the crisis coincided with the aggression of the Catholic West against the Orthodox peoples, which began during the 4th Crusade, which ended with the capture of Constantinople. Gumilyov also believed that steppephobia in general and Mongolianophobia in particular are a product of the ideology of Eurocentrism, which is characterized by a disrespectful attitude towards non-European peoples.
Summing up the above, we can conclude that the Mongol-Tatar yoke turned out to be a "braking factor" for the development of Russia and its further advancement in the political arena.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Vernadsky G.V. Mongols and Russia. M., 2001; Inscription of Russian history, M., 2003
2. Barabanov V. V. Manual for applicants to universities Russian State Pedagogical University. Herzen, St. Petersburg, 2003
3. Complete collection of Russian chronicles. - 2002. - ISBN 5-94457-011-3
EXTERNAL SOURCES, SOURCES FROM THE INTERNET
1. http://www.gumfak.ru/his_html/orlov/orl06.shtml
2. http://www.5ka.ru/21/38004/1.html
Material from the site FROM ANCIENT RUSSIA TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
Russian history. Textbook. Orlov A.S., Georgiev V.A.
Rybakov B. A., "Craft of Ancient Russia", 1948, p.525-533,780-781 ).
The head of the Mongol Empire was the son of the "heavenly warrior" Ogedei. For several years the Mongols were busy with wars in Korea and North China. In 1234, the North Chinese "Golden Empire" fell. Then it was time to deploy all the military power of the steppes to the West...
In 1235, the great Khan Ogedei convened a kurultai (congress) of the Mongolian nobility, at which it was decided to start a new campaign. This enterprise was given special significance: it was about the fulfillment of the precepts of Genghis Khan. First, it was necessary to move from the steppes beyond the Ural River to the Lower Volga region and the Polovtsian steppe, then to the Volga Bulgaria and Russia. In the distant future, it was supposed to conquer the "land of the Franks" - Western Europe.
The command of the troops of the western campaign was entrusted to the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu.
Mongolian name Batu (in Russian pronunciation - Batu) meant "strong", "solid", "indestructible". Batu was a capable, successful commander. No wonder he was subsequently called Sain Khan, i.e. Happy. Ruthlessly and consistently he went to the goal.
The march to the West required the joining of the forces of all Mongolian clans. Seven grandsons of Genghis Khan gathered at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief, and each brought with him large military forces. In total, Batu had at his disposal 100-150 thousand horsemen. In addition, during the assault on cities, the Mongols drove forward countless crowds of prisoners who carried earth, logs and stones to overcome the ditches and build an embankment in front of the walls. Most of these prisoners died from the arrows of the fortress defenders. But their bodies created a hill, along which the Mongol warriors then climbed the city walls.
In the autumn of 1236 the Mongols attacked Volga Bulgaria. The Bulgars three times (in 1223, 1229 and 1232) repulsed the raids of the conquerors. However, the numerical superiority of the conquerors was too great. After a fierce battle, the capital of the country, the city of Bulgar, was captured and destroyed. In the spring and summer of 1237, the hordes of Batu completed the devastation of Bulgaria, they also marched across the steppes from the Caspian to the Don, destroying the Polovtsy and other nomadic peoples there. Now they stood on the very threshold of Russia...
The Russian princes, of course, knew about what was happening in the East. Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich settled thousands of refugees from the Volga Bulgaria in his border fortresses. Fearing an alliance between the eastern and western enemies of Russia, he intercepted the ambassadors sent by the Khan to the Hungarian king, detained the Catholic monks sent by the Pope to Russia for the purpose of intelligence.
Having passed with fire and sword through the Galicia-Volyn principality, Batu moved on to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. On April 11, 1241, in the battle of Shaio, the Mongols defeated the 60,000-strong army of the Hungarian king Bela IV. And two days earlier, another Mongol detachment operating in southwestern Poland destroyed the combined Polish forces at the Battle of Legnica. material from the site
The way to Western Europe was opened. However, in the spring of 1242, Batu suddenly turned his troops back to the East. What made the grandson of Genghis Khan stop the campaign that threatened the existence of the entire European civilization? The answer is obvious. With all the many big and small reasons, the main obstacle that slowed down and stopped the advance of the Mongol army was the heroic resistance of the peoples of Eastern Europe, and in particular the Russian people. Having lost the best warriors, Batu simply did not have the strength to move on, to conquer populous and strong countries.
Ever since Sultan Saladin took Jerusalem from the crusaders at the end of the 12th century, the best knights of Europe have been trying to return the lost shrine. However, all their efforts were fruitless. On the way to the Holy City, the German king Friedrich Barbarossa died. The English king Richard the Lionheart did not achieve victory either. It seemed that the crusader cause had failed completely. Everything favored the Mohammedans. Suddenly, a rumor spread that Mongolian regiments were coming from the unknown distance of the East to help the Europeans. They were said to be Christians in a hurry to defeat the hated Mohammedans.
But in Europe they rejoiced in vain. "The devils who escaped from the underworld" were moving towards her. Since that time, Europeans have nicknamed the uninvited guests "sons of hell." The formidable commander Genghis Khan was the first to lead the "Tartar" army to the west. If we know the history of the conquest of Kievan Rus, then other European campaigns of the Mongols, for example, the defeat of Hungary and Poland, remained in the shadow of the fires of Ryazan and Kyiv.
On the day of Palm Sunday in 1241, the Devil appeared at the walls of the Polish city of Krakow. The townspeople were already preparing to celebrate Easter, when suddenly the trumpet began to whine. The meaning of her call was clear to anyone. Disaster was approaching the city. Mongols! The signal broke off at once - an arrow stuck out of the trumpeter's throat ... The Mongols, like a tornado, burst into the city on that holiday, left a terrible memory. And then they did not leave Krakow alone. Three more times, in 1242, 1259 and 1287, they burned it.
I was struck not only by their sudden appearance, but also by their appearance, their strange language. Their fame outstripped the pace of their cavalry. They were considered invincible. Any resistance to them was pointless. They looked like demons that had come out of the underworld. Their very name - and they were often called "Tatars" after the name of the Mongol tribe that inhabited Central Siberia - suggested their origin. Medieval chroniclers changed their name to "Tartars". So it seemed to them rather, because the ancient Greeks called the kingdom of the dead - Tartarus. That's where this invincible army came from!
However, not only superstition and fear prevented the Europeans from resisting the Mongols. At that time, the Mongol army was perhaps the most combat-ready in the world. In the 13th century, European armies were made up of mounted knights dressed in heavy armor, as well as infantrymen on foot - ordinary townspeople and peasants. The knights were noble people; they considered the bow as a weapon of commoners and fought with swords. Therefore, in Europe, any battle broke up into many fights. The knights of both armies, divided into pairs, fought with each other.
In the battle with the Mongols - "wall to wall" - it was ridiculous to talk about tactics, about the art of war. Although this principle of warfare was reasonable in Europe, when meeting with the Mongol army, it turned out to be meaningless. Not a disparate army of Asians was hurrying towards the knights - no, a car was rolling towards them, all parts of which were well fitted to each other. The Mongol horde swept away the figurines of knights, like the lava of a volcano - individual trees. They fought against the colossus that rolled over them - and fell dead. Often they did not even have time to fight one on one with one of the Mongols - they died under a hail of arrows or tried to escape, being overtaken by arrows.
This "despicable bow", rejected by the knights, played a crucial role in the tactics of the Mongols. Most of their cavalry did not even wear armor, except for a helmet. These warriors did not think about martial arts. Without approaching the enemy, they shot him with bows, and the accuracy of their shooting at full gallop was amazing. In battle, they used arrows of various types. For the knights, they prepared arrows with flexible steel tips that pierced any armor. Some of the arrows were drilled, so in flight they emitted such a loud whistle that they often could not stand the nerves not only of the enemy horses, but also of the enemy. A spear, a lasso, a sword supplemented the weapons of the Mongols, but they were used only when the advantage over the enemy was clearly tangible and victory was inevitable.
Usually the Mongols at full speed rushed at the enemy, showering him with a hail of arrows. When the enemy was too close, they suddenly imitated a retreat, and, turning halfway, they shot just as accurately, preventing the enemies from moving. Then, giving the horses a rest, they again rushed to the attack. Again the arrows were fired. In practice, it was an "artillery preparation", after which even the most staunch enemy could falter. As soon as the latter turned to flight, the heavy cavalry went into battle on command. Horsemen in leather armor finished off with their peaks the confused soldiers of the enemy, who were already rushing at random.
Before the sophisticated tactics of the Mongols, any crowd of knights that did not tolerate strict control was powerless. In addition, the Mongols were not only brilliant fighters, but also excellently waged psychological warfare. Their cruelty became the talk of the town, but it was not an end in itself. Having slaughtered the population of one city that decided to give battle, the Mongols could hope that in the future dozens of cities would submit to them without a fight. From such cities, according to L.N. Gumilyov, the Mongols "levied a moderate indemnity with horses for the repair of cavalry and food supplies for warriors." The Mongols did not leave their garrisons anywhere, so the "submission" was purely symbolic; after the departure of the Mongol army, the inhabitants returned home and everything went on as before.
Having conquered China, Khorezm and the Black Sea region, by 1227 the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan became a true “ruler of the world”: never before in history has there been such an extended empire as his. Nevertheless, Genghis Khan firmly held power in his hands. If only he held the reins as tenaciously! He fell off his horse and fell to his death. His ambitious plans were put to an end.
To avoid confusion in the country, which could break out after his death, Genghis Khan took care of the future structure of his state in advance. He divided it into four khanates, which were to be ruled by heirs. The most important, from a strategic point of view, was the western khanate, spread over the Polovtsian lands. They began to be ruled by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu Khan (Batu). Subsequently, it received the name "Golden Horde".
It was from here, from the Volga steppes, that the Mongols began to threaten Europe. At first, few people paid attention to their appearance, they were not considered a worthy opponent. Meanwhile, the Mongol scouts carefully found out everything about Europe and Russia. They were interested in the policy of individual principalities and states, their economy, living conditions in these countries. Preparing for the war, the leaders of the Mongols thoroughly found out everything about their opponents, who were not waiting for them ...
From 1234, a campaign to the west was planned for two years. The new great Khan Ogedei sent a hundred and fifty thousand army there (according to other sources, the Mongol army numbered 30-40 thousand people, at most 50 thousand). It was headed by Batu, but in fact it was commanded by one of the best military leaders of the Mongol state, Subedei. More recently, in 1232-1234, he won victory after victory in China. Now he was just as carefully preparing to defeat a series of weak, unfriendly principalities - fragments of the mighty Kievan Rus.
The first victim of the Mongols was the Volga Bulgaria, located at the crossroads of trade routes that connected Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. From here, from the banks of the Volga, the Mongols were preparing to conquer the Russian cities, hoping to find rich booty there.
It was the thirty-seventh year of the thirteenth century. Fourteen years earlier, the Mongols had already fought on the steppe river Kalka with Russian and Polovtsian troops and defeated them utterly. Then the Mongols returned to their homeland. Russia got a break. But now they were not going to leave.
On the eve of the new war, about five million people lived in Russia. According to the Russian historian S. Smirnov, the country could field about a hundred thousand professional soldiers and about half a million militias, which was several times larger than the Mongolian army. However, constant strife prevented the gathering of a single army. And so it happened that each of the principalities fought and died alone.
The defeat at Kalka did not unite the Russian princes and did not even alert them. Accustomed to beating up nomads - both Pechenegs and Polovtsy - they were not interested in the unknown Mongols, did not try to find out their plans, to understand their way of thinking. Only this can explain, for example, the death of the Ryazan principality.
Batu knew that the Ryazan princes did not fight on the Kalka, and was not going to fight them. Approaching Ryazan, he informed the princes that he intended to get food and horses for a further campaign. Subsequently, it was so: the cities of North-Eastern Russia avoided the assault, supplying the Mongols with provisions. However, the Ryazan princes, as L. Gumilyov noted, "not bothering to find out who they were dealing with," proudly replied: "Kill us - everything will be yours."
What did the Russian princes count on in anticipation of the war? On the powerful walls of cities that nomads cannot overcome? Or to the Volga - this huge natural ditch filled with water, which nomads cannot overcome. If only they knew that the Mongols, armed with Chinese assault guns, took any fortress! They fired at the enemy city with ballistae and catapults, showered it with burning arrows, causing numerous fires, built siege towers and punched holes in the walls. The garrisons of recalcitrant fortresses and their civilian population were always completely exterminated. The stubbornness of the recalcitrant townspeople was hopeless and doomed everyone to death.
And the Volga… in December 1237, it froze over. And the hooves of the cavalry pounded on the ice. It was the sound of death itself. On December 21, Ryazan fell, although many Mongol warriors were killed near its walls. Then, during the winter, Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Moscow fell. The Mongols spent an average of three days to a week on the siege of Russian cities. The winter campaign of 1237-1238 ended on March 4 with a battle on the Sit River, where the army of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated, and he himself died.
The Mongols hurried to the north. Torzhok, standing in their way, held out for two weeks and was taken only on March 23. Further, beyond the forests and swamps, "Mr. Veliky Novgorod" was waiting for them - one of the richest cities in Russia and one of the European centers of trade of that time. Novgorod was a member of the Hanseatic League, which united port cities on the coast of the Baltic and North Seas.
But here the maps of the Mongols were confused by the weather, or rather, bad weather. They did not have time to approach Novgorod before spring, and soon the thaw began. Only she saved the merchant capital. In the forest, swampy Russia, the Mongols could move only in winter - along frozen rivers. Now their horses were drowning in the melted swamps. There was no road. From there, Batu moved on, but, before reaching Novgorod, he turned south and went to Kozelsk. It is customary to explain the turn from Novgorod with spring floods, but there is another explanation - probably, the trip did not fit into the planned time frame.
Turning the troops back, Batu was detained for seven weeks near Kozelsk, whose inhabitants offered strong resistance to the invaders. After the capture, Kozelsk was nicknamed the "evil" city by the Tatars, and its defense became a symbol of resistance to the Mongol-Tatar invasion.
By the summer of 1238, the Mongols returned to the Lower Volga. Here, on the steppe expanses, their army rested from the hardships of the winter campaign.
In the next two years, the Mongols ravaged South Russia, destroyed and burned Kyiv, took Chernigov, conquered Galician Russia. The war was fought again in winter, so the great Ukrainian rivers did not interfere with the rapid transfer of troops.
All these years, while an unknown incoming army was systematically cracking down on the largest European state, in another part of Europe - in the west - amazing complacency reigned. There, too, they counted on the powerful walls of cities, believed in an easy victory over non-Christians. In the meantime, the Pope was at enmity with the German emperor, none of the kings entered into a military alliance, did not prepare for war with the Mongols.
When the Mongol ambassadors were killed in Poland, the Mongol army burst into the country with lightning speed. Almost instantly, the Polish troops were swept away. Unprecedented panic arose throughout Poland. Waves of refugees rolled west in terror. City after city was captured, ruined, burned. Ahead of the Mongol columns, rumors flew, repeating about "hundreds of thousands of enemies" marching on Europe. Truly, fear has large eyes. But it was really scary to fight the Mongols. Knights were waiting for failure.
An army of German and Polish knights, up to forty thousand in number, gathered to meet the enemy. She was waiting for the Mongols near the city of Legnica. Another army was moving there from Bohemia. It was led by King Wenceslaus and had 50,000 soldiers with him. They had only two days left to travel. But then, having overtaken them, the advanced Mongol detachment - and there were about 20,000 people in it - went to Legnica.
On April 9, 1241, the battle began. As they advanced, the Mongols shouted in Polish: “Save yourself! Save yourself!" This familiar command threw the thirteenth-century "international rapid reaction force" into disarray. The Europeans were confused and were utterly defeated. The survivors fled west. The Mongols did not pursue them. They had other plans.
Their main target was the Hungarian steppes. Most of the Mongol forces - three separate armies - were advancing on Hungary. They went from different directions: through Transylvania, the Danube valley, the Central Carpathians. Under the walls of the Hungarian capital, Buda, they were to meet. The detachment, fierce in Poland, was only obliged to "secure the rear" and protect the future possessions of the Mongols in Hungary from an unexpected attack from the north.
In anticipation of the Mongols, the Hungarian king Bela IV gathered almost a hundred thousandth army. When the advanced detachments of the enemy appeared, the Hungarians went on the offensive. And at first the Mongols, apparently, faltered. After several days of careful pursuit, Bela IV overtook them at the Chaillot River. So far, he has been lucky. He easily recaptured the bridge over the river from the Mongols and even began to transport troops to its other side, preparing to continue the campaign. For the night, he set up a fortified camp on the other side of the river, fearing random sorties of the timid Mongols.
But that night passed quietly. But when the first rays of the sun were to shine and illuminate the day of complete victory over the enemies, there was a thunder, more terrible than which no one heard, and the whole sky was filled with fire, and stones began to fall on people from above. Many perished without understanding anything; others fled in terror. So the cunning Mongols used ballistas, catapults and Chinese crackers to stun the enemy.
Under this roar, the main parts of the Mongols crossed the Shaio River and surrounded the camp, where the main Hungarian forces remained. Their extermination began. Stones, arrows and burning oil rained down on the Hungarians from all sides. They desperately tried to get out of the encirclement, and when a gap suddenly formed in the ranks of the Mongols, they rushed into it. Hurrying to escape from the battlefield, they threw armor and weapons. Perhaps they thought that the worst was over.
But then the Mongol cavalry appeared from all sides and began to cut down the fugitives. Within a few hours, about 70,000 Hungarians died. The kingdom was left without an army.
Continuing to ravage Hungary, the Mongols reached the Adriatic Sea. They were already preparing to settle for a long time in the Hungarian steppes; have already minted their coin; already dreamed of conquering neighboring countries - Italy, Austria, how intervened in the matter - some historians like to say - Divine Providence. An event that happened ten thousand kilometers from Hungary changed the course of world history.
The great Khan Ogedei died. His son Guyuk, an old enemy of Batu, could become his heir. A few years ago, he almost pulled Baty by the hair after a quarrel. Now there was nothing to hold back the mutual hatred of the two brothers.
Surprisingly, the military campaign was over. From the walls of Venice and Vienna, the Mongol army moved back to the east. She stopped the conquests and began to prepare for a civil war. Only at the cost of long negotiations was it possible to maintain peace in the state.
For four years in the Mongolian capital, Karakorum, the kurultai lasted - a popular assembly at which a new great khan was chosen. All this time, the Mongols did not wage wars with their neighbors. In the end, Guyuk was elected great khan in January 1246, and Batu received land in Eastern Europe, which he had conquered.
The latter showed himself to be a skilled statesman. After the election of Guyuk as the great khan, the fate of Batu seemed to be sealed. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, he tried to enlist support ... in Russia devastated by him. His politics of recent years made it easier for him to choose. He had long since abandoned new attacks on Russian cities; he did not leave Mongol garrisons in the cities, but only kept his servants at the courts of the princes - the Baskaks, who collected tribute. The Russian princes retained power over their lands and were only obliged to come to the capital of Batu to swear allegiance to him. Contrary to popular misconceptions, Russia in 1241-1380 was not at all a colony of the Mongol khans in the full sense of the word. She paid certain sums of money to the Mongol Khan.
Batu entered into an alliance with Alexander Nevsky, the best commander of Russia and the Grand Duke in Novgorod. Batu's son, Sartak, converted to Christianity. The diplomatic efforts of Batu, his cunning and determination, helped him eventually win a hopeless battle with his relative.
Two years later, when the armies of Batu and Guyuk were already preparing for war with each other, the great Khan Guyuk died. Probably, Batu's supporters poisoned him. And now he could calmly reign in his possessions.
In those days, on the banks of the Volga, not far from modern Astrakhan, was the city of Saray-Batu, the capital of the state of Batu - the Golden Horde. His power united the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian steppes, the Crimea and Western Siberia. The power of Batu extended over the entire territory from the lower Danube to the lower Ob, from the Irtysh to the Neva, from the Black and Caspian Seas to the White Sea.
After the death of Batu in 1255, his brother, Berke, came to power. He confirmed all the rights of Alexander Nevsky, foreseeing that soon the other heirs of Genghis Khan would quarrel among themselves and he would really need Russian help. In addition, Berke moved the capital to the north, to modern Volgograd, to the city of Saray-Berke. And soon it became the center of caravan trade. Saray-Berke grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Europe, with a population of over half a million people. In the Middle Ages, only Constantinople could compare with it. Even in the famous Florence in the era of Dante and Petrarch, a little more than a hundred thousand people lived.
Now calm reigned on all the borders of the Golden Horde. Pax Mongolica, the "Mongolian world" came, spreading to the entire East European Plain, Western Siberia, and soon to China. After centuries of civil strife on the territory along the Great Silk Road, a single power arose - you can call it "Asia without borders" - from the Carpathians to Korea.
This event decisively influenced the development of Europe. Now its merchants could safely trade with the most remote regions of the Eurasian continent. Up to Beijing, the path was open for them. The Venetians were especially successful in this trade. The revival of trade led to a rapid economic recovery in the countries of Europe. From the Asian states, goods and new information constantly flowed to them.
At first, information about how people live in the countries of the East seemed to Europeans "empty stories", "fairy tales". The most striking example of this is the story of the merchant Marco Polo, who was not believed at first after his return from China.
After several decades of the “Mongolian world”, Europe is experiencing a real economic and cultural renaissance. Italy especially benefits from Pax Mongolica - a country of large port cities, vying with each other in a hurry to trade with the East. Colonies of Italian merchants appeared on the Crimean coast - transshipment points for international trade of that time. Between Genoa and Venice, as well as Constantinople, recovering from its defeat by the crusaders, a real trade war even flares up.
But it was this boundless peaceful distance that destroyed the Golden Horde. Along the same roads where the caravans of merchants had recently moved, the “black death” was now in a hurry. An invisible guest with a scythe secretly nailed first to one group of merchants, then to another. Spent the night in inns. I looked around at the crowded bazaars. And everywhere she sowed the seeds of infection, and in the following days she harvested her harvest - she mowed down human lives one after another.
On all the roads of the Golden Horde in the direction of Europe, a plague blew. The idyllic world of "Asia Without Borders" was destroyed not by war, but by a never-before-seen pestilence. It is known that in Europe in just five years, from 1347 to 1352, about a third of the population died out, including most of the inhabitants of southern Italy and three-quarters of the population of Germany.
The population of the Golden Horde also decreased significantly, although we do not know the exact numbers. But it is known that after the "Great Plague" in the Golden Horde, a troubled time came. It practically broke up into separate areas. From 1357 to 1380, more than 25 khans were on the throne of the Horde. Khorezm, Dnieper, Astrakhan separated from it. In Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula, the Ottoman Turks began to rule, blocking the way through the Black Sea straits and significantly complicating world trade.
Another usurper, Mamai, who did not even belong to the Genghisides family, was defeated in the Battle of Kulikovo.
The subsequent disappearance of the Golden Horde was swift. In 1395, the ruler of Samarkand Timur (Tamerlane) defeated the Mongol Khan Tokhtamysh, invaded the Volga region and destroyed the Horde cities, including the capital Saray-Berke. By this time, the Mongols had already been expelled from China, where the national Ming dynasty came to power.
This is how the Mongolian superpower disappeared from the earth. The Golden Horde broke up into many small khanates, most of which were conquered in turn by the grand dukes and tsars of Moscow in the 15th-16th centuries. With the fall of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates under Ivan the Terrible, the European part of the history of the Mongols actually ceased. Since that time, the fate of Mongolia has been the fate of a small country lying in the steppe and desert regions south of Lake Baikal, never again playing any significant role in world history.
Kurushin M.Yu.
western hike
For the Russian historian, the biography of Batu essentially begins in the spring of 1235, when the start of the Western campaign was announced at the kurultai, convened by the great Khan Ogedei. “When the kaan arranged a big kurultai for the second time and appointed a meeting regarding the destruction and extermination of the rest of the recalcitrants, then a decision was made to take possession of the countries of Bulgar, Ases and Russia, which were in the neighborhood of the Batu camp, were not yet completely subdued and were proud of their large number, - we read in "History of the Conqueror of the World" by the Persian historian Ala ad-Din Ata-Melik Juveini, who lived in the middle of the 13th century and was in the service of the ruler of Mongolian Iran, Hulagu Khan. - Therefore, to help and reinforce Batu, he (Ogedei) appointed princes: Mengu Khan and his brother Buchek, from his sons Guyuk Khan and Kadagan and other princes: Kulkan, Buri, Baidar, Batu brothers - Khord and Tangut, and several others princes, and among the noble emirs was Subatai-bahadur. The princes, for the organization of their troops and hosts, each went to their camp and location, and in the spring they stepped out of their locations and hurried to get ahead of each other.
Batu, together with his brothers, went to his inheritance - Desht-i-Kipchak. But even before that, fulfilling the Mongol custom, he arranged a feast and refreshments for his relatives and future comrades-in-arms in the Western campaign. “Batu Khan treated this whole meeting for forty days,” says Abu-l-Ghazi, “during all these forty days they were not free from comforts and pleasures for a single minute. After this, Batu sent out flagmen to the regions to recruit troops; this time there were so many troops that he did not have an account. Batu's army was better equipped than others: according to Chinese sources, his soldiers received the same ration for two on a campaign as in other parts of the army was given for ten people 2 . They will be the first to invade the Volga Bulgaria, and already here in the fall of 1236, Batu will meet with the rest of the princes appointed to participate in the campaign.
The named princes belonged to the next generation of Genghisids, the generation of grandchildren (and in part even great-grandchildren) of Genghis Khan. They represented all four branches coming from the four eldest sons of the "conqueror of the Universe", who had the right to inherit power in the Mongol Empire. Of the sons of Tului (who died before the start of the campaign, in September-October 1232), Juvaini names the eldest, the future great khan Mengu (Munke), and the seventh, Buchek (or Budzhak); Guyuk, who also later became a great khan, was the eldest son of Ogedei, and Kadan (Kadagan) was the sixth son; the line of Chagatai was represented by his eldest grandson Buri, the second son of the first-born and favorite of Chagatai Mutugen (who was also considered a favorite of Genghis Khan and who died during the life of his grandfather and before his eyes during the siege of the Bamiyan fortress in Afghanistan), and the sixth son Baydar; next to Batu were his older brother Orda and the younger ones Berke (the third son of Jochi), Shiban (the fifth son) and Tangut (the sixth). Finally, one of the younger sons of Genghis Khan, Kulkan (Kulkan), was named among the participants in the campaign; he was born from the second wife of the “conqueror of the Universe” Kulan-Khatun (from the Merkit tribe) and although, unlike the four older brothers, he did not have the right to inherit from his father, during his father’s lifetime he was otherwise equated with them. As you can see, all these were not just representatives of the four older clans of Genghisides, but elder representatives of these clans are the eldest sons or persons who replaced them.
On this account there was a special order of the great khan. “In relation to all those sent on a real campaign,” we read in the “Secret Tale”, “it was said: “The eldest son must be sent to war, both those great princes-princes who manage the destinies, and those who do not have such in their jurisdiction. . Temnik noyons, thousanders, centurions and foremen, as well as people of all fortunes, are obliged to send the eldest of their sons to war in the same way. In the same way, the eldest sons will be sent to war and the princesses and sons-in-law ... By sending the eldest sons to the campaign, a fair army will turn out. When the army is numerous, they will all rise up and walk with their heads held high. There are many enemy countries there, and the people there are fierce. These are people who, in a rage, accept death, throwing themselves on their own swords (almost an echo of the stories of Muslim writers about the ancient Russians and Franks. - A.K.). Their swords are said to be sharp. That is why I, Ogedei Khan, everywhere announce that we, with all the zeal for the word of our elder brother Chaadai, rigorously send our elder sons to war. And this is the basis on which the princes Batu, Buri, Guyuk, Munke and all the others go on a campaign” 3 . The march to the west became the common cause of all the heirs of Genghis Khan, in the full sense of the word, the fulfillment of the sacred will of the founder of the Mongol Empire.
A special role in the campaign was assigned to the eldest son of Ogedei Guyuk and grandson of Chagatai Buri. The first was entrusted with "command over the units that set out on a campaign from the Central Ulus"; Buri, on the other hand, was placed “over all the princes sent on a campaign,” that is, he actually stood at the head of almost the entire Mongol army, with the exception of Batu’s own forces. This made Buri, a young but very ambitious man, almost the central figure of the entire enterprise. Born of a commoner wife of his father's household servant, Buri was bold to the point of insolence. In addition, he hated Batu, having inherited the hatred for his son Jochi from his father and grandfather, and this could not but lead to their clash. No less ambitious was Guyuk, who also had a frank dislike for Batu. At the same time, Guyuk managed to prove himself in the course of previous wars, in particular in the Chinese campaign; chronicles more than once mention his name (as well as the name of Mengu), telling about the capture of individual Chinese cities. Batu could not boast of anything like that. And although his name was called the first among the names of the princes participating in the campaign, although the main goal of the campaign was to expand his inheritance - the Ulus of Jochi, he still had to win the championship not in words, but in deeds, to become a true leader of the Mongol army. Looking ahead, I’ll say that Batu will be able to achieve this - but not so much by military as by political methods, using such qualities as composure, endurance, as well as the ability to use the mistakes and intemperance of rivals.
Of all the senior princes who participated in the campaign, Batu had more or less trusting relations with only one from the very beginning. It was Mengu, Tului's eldest son. And the point is not only that Jochi during his lifetime was not at enmity with Tului, as he was at enmity with Chagatai and Ogedei. Relations within the "Golden Family" of the heirs of Genghis Khan were very complex. Mengu's mother, Khansha Sorkuktani-begi, who after her husband's death became the head of his large family and was very influential in the Mongol Empire, needed some support outside her clan and found this support in Batu, the head of the Jochi clan. It is known about the friction that arose between Sorkuktani-begi and the great Khan Ogedei. Thus, the latter intended to make Sorkuktani the wife of his son Guyuk, but the khansha found the strength to oppose this marriage project 4 . In addition, Ogedei arbitrarily handed over to his second son Kuden part of the army (two thousand soldiers) that belonged to Tului and his sons. Naturally, Mengu saw in Guyuk - his failed stepfather! - a direct rival, and in Batu - respectively, an ally. And Mengu's calculations were justified: it was Batu's support that would subsequently ensure him the khan's throne.
Rashid ad-Din says that initially Ogedei intended to go on a campaign against the Kipchaks himself. The Great Khan was known for his love of luxury and pleasure. According to the Persian historian, most of the time he "was absorbed in various pleasures with beautiful wives and moon-faced captors of hearts"; in addition, he “was very fond of wine and was constantly intoxicated and allowed excesses in this regard” - Ogedei himself admitted this vice of his. Nevertheless, worries about the dispensation of the state also fascinated the great khan. After he gathered the kurultai and “for a whole month, the relatives feasted in uninterrupted agreement from early morning to the star,” the khan “turned to arranging the important affairs of the state and the army. Since some of the outskirts of the state had not yet been completely conquered, and in other areas there were gangs of rebels, he set about correcting these matters. He assigned each of his relatives to some country, and he personally intended to go to the Kipchak steppe. This, however, was not to the taste of his younger relatives. The general opinion was expressed by Mengu, who, "although he was still in the prime of his youth," nevertheless, according to Rashid ad-Din, possessed both intelligence and experience. “All of us, sons and brothers, are waiting for the order to unquestioningly and selflessly do everything that is indicated, in order for the kaan to engage in pleasures and entertainment, and not endure the hardships and difficulties of campaigns,” the Persian historian conveys his words. “If not in this, then in what other way can the relatives and emirs of a myriad army be useful?” Mengu's speech was approved by all the relatives; then, says Rashid ad-Din, “the blessed look of the kaan stopped at the fact that the princes Batu, Mengu-kaan and Guyuk-khan, together with other princes and a large army, went to the regions of the Kipchaks, Russians, Bular, Madzhars, Bashkirds, Ases , to Sudak and to those lands and conquered all of them; and they began to prepare for this campaign.
It is difficult to say how accurate this story is in detail. But it may indicate that there have been serious differences between the older and younger Chinggisids. Mengu, a representative of the younger generation of the heirs of Genghis Khan, openly pointed out to the great khan what he should do and what he should not interfere with. Relying, in particular, on this evidence, the researchers believe that the campaign of such a significant number of princes, and especially the eldest sons of those "grand prince-princes", "who ruled the destinies", can partly be explained by the desire of Ogedei Khan to secure his power and get rid for a while of the presence in the central ulus of young, but already too influential and ambitious nephews 6 .
Several important events of the central government belong to the time of preparation for the campaign. Firstly, in order to raise funds for the campaign, taxes were established: kopchur - a tax on livestock, defined as one head of cattle for every hundred heads, and a tax on grain: one tagar (measure) of wheat for every ten tagars "for spending on the poor ". Secondly, “in order for the uninterrupted arrival of messengers both from the princes and from his majesty the kaan in the interests of important matters”, in all countries conquered by the Mongols, special post camps were set up with changes of horses, pack animals and people - the so-called pits (in Mongolian "jam", from the Chinese "zhan" - "station"). To carry out this decree and establish the pits, messengers were sent and four special officials were appointed, one from each of the four senior representatives of the clan - the great khan himself, his elder brother Chagatai, Batu and the widow of Tului Sorguktani-begi. (Batu was represented by a certain Suku-Mulchitai, whose name is no longer mentioned in the sources.) “With the present methods of movement of our ambassadors,” Ogedei explained this order, “the ambassadors travel slowly, and the people suffer a considerable burden.” And therefore, the following indispensable order was established: “everywhere, from the thousands, caretakers of postal stations stand out - yamchins and riding postmen - ulaachins; in certain places, stations are established - pits, and henceforth the ambassadors undertake, with the exception of emergency circumstances, to follow the stations without fail, and not drive around the ulus. Ogedei's decree determined the norms for the maintenance of pits and threatened cruel punishments for their violation: “... Each pit should have twenty Ulaachins. From now on, we will establish for each yam a certain number of ulaachins, horses, sheep for food for travelers, dairy mares, draft oxen and wagons. And if from now on anyone will be short of at least a short rope against the installed set, he will pay with one lip, and whoever lacks at least a wheel spoke will pay with half a nose» 7 .
The establishment of the pits played a huge role in the history of more than just the Mongol Empire. Time will pass, and the pit service, so necessary in the vast expanses of Eurasia, will be inherited by the Muscovite kingdom, and then by the Russian Empire. The significance of the pits was understood both by Ogedei himself, who took it as a special merit for himself, and by his brother Chagatai. “Of the measures reported to me, I consider the establishment of pits to be the most correct,” he informed the Great Khan. And he added, mentioning Batu, who had set out on the Western campaign: “I will also take care of the establishment of pits, leading them from here to meet yours. In addition, I will ask Batu to draw pits from him towards mine. So, almost simultaneously, the backbone and circulatory system of the great Eurasian empire were created.
Most of the Mongol army moved very slowly. Finding himself in the Mongolian steppes just before the start of the Western campaign, in 1235-1236, the Chinese ambassador Xu Ting met a large Mongol army moving past him non-stop for several days. The Chinese ambassador was especially surprised that the majority of this army were young men, even teenagers, aged thirteen or fourteen. When he asked how to explain this, he was told that the army was sent “to fight the Muslim states, where three years of travel. Those who are now 13-14 years old will be 17-18 years old when they reach those places, and all of them will already be excellent warriors. The name "Muslim states" was for the Chinese synonymous with distant western lands. Who knows, perhaps it was the youths met by Xu Ting who, a few years later, would strike not only at the Muslim lands of Volga Bulgaria, Iran or Asia Minor, but also at Christian Russia?!
Thus began the conquest of the Mongols in Europe. However, we call it aggressive today; it became such for the peoples ruined, destroyed and conquered by the Mongols. The Mongols themselves looked at what was happening somewhat differently. For them, it was not so much the conquest of someone else's, but the assertion of their power over those countries and peoples that belonged to them by right - the right of power and the right of establishments of the "conqueror of the Universe" Genghis Khan.
In this sense, the heirs of Genghis Khan can also be called the heirs of the great "golden king" - "Altan Khan" - the Chinese emperor, whose empire was conquered by them. Its very name - "Celestial Empire", or "Middle Kingdom" - accurately determined its position in the world as the only empire, whose power extends to all earthly space, overshadowed by the sky. Even in the 17th-18th centuries (not to mention earlier times), and even later, the Chinese Bogdykhans looked at foreigners who came to their country - merchants and ambassadors of foreign powers - exclusively as their subjects and accepted embassy gifts and offerings as an expression of humility, as a tribute brought from the distant lands of the "Celestial" empire. For the Chinese, the peoples around them were "barbarians", and they fenced themselves off from them with the Great Wall, but when the "barbarians" occupied the imperial throne, the situation only partly changed. The Mongols treated the Chinese with the same contempt as they did other conquered peoples (although they learned a lot from them). But the idea that their empire is the only one that the world belongs to them was inherent in them to no lesser extent. (“By the power of God, all the lands, starting from those where the sun rises and ending with those where the sun sets, have been granted to us,” the great Khan Guyuk stated in his message to the Pope in November 1246 9.) The Mongols considered any lands to be theirs, “ where the horses of their hordes went” (in the words of the Arab scholar-encyclopedist of the first third of the 14th century, al-Nuwayri). That is why the lands of the Kipchaks, Russians, Bulgarians and other peoples seemed to them to be that “some outskirts” of their state, which “has not yet been completely conquered” by them. At the same time, unlike the Chinese, the Mongols were nomads, which means that they were initially accustomed to the raid, to the search for new places for nomads, to mastering them in bloody wars with other tribes. The Chinese so despised the “barbarians” around them that they considered wars with them, the conquest of their lands, to be absolutely meaningless. The Mongols, on the other hand, were born for war, and for a long time war became the main and only way of their existence.
The entire power of Genghis Khan was built as one military camp. It was divided into "center" and "right" and "left" "wings". The latter, in turn, were divided into “darknesses”, or “tumens” (capable of putting up 10 thousand soldiers), and those into thousands, hundreds and tens, so that not a single Mongol aged from fifteen to seventy years old could be outside your department. At the head of each of these divisions were, respectively, temniks, thousanders, centurions and foremen. At the same time, a very cruel order was established: if during the hostilities one or two out of ten people fled, then the entire ten were executed. The same was done if one or two boldly entered into battle, and the rest did not follow them; if one of the ten was captured and was not released by his comrades, then death could also await the latter. The military leaders of the Mongols, as a rule, did not directly participate in the battles - which was a hallmark of the Mongol army and allowed them to skillfully lead them at any stage of the battle. But at the same time, the rule was observed: if a temnik or thousand's man died in battle, then his children or grandchildren inherited his rank, and if he died a natural death, from illness, "then his children or grandchildren fell one rank lower." In the same way, if the centurion died of old age or the clerk moved him to another position, "then both these positions were not subject to inheritance" 10 . Such establishments fastened the Mongol army with a discipline unprecedented for other tribes and peoples. The Mongols very rarely surrendered, were fearless and unstoppable in battle.
They surpassed their enemies and technical equipment and tactical training. The Mongols, one might say, were born horsemen. From infancy, they were firmly tied to the back of a horse, and in this position they followed their mother everywhere. “At the age of three, they are tied with ropes to the pommel of the saddle, so that the hands have something to hold on to,” and the horses are allowed to “rush at full speed,” the Chinese ambassador to the “black Tatars” (Mongols) Peng Da-ya reported to his government in 1233 . - At four or five years old they are given a small bow and short arrows, with which they grow up. All year round they hunt in the field. All of them are rapidly rushing on horseback, while they stand on their toes in stirrups, and do not sit, so their main strength is in their calves ... They are fast, like a running tornado, and powerful, like a crushing mountain. Since in the saddle they turn to the left and turn over to the right with such speed, as if the wings of a windmill, they can, turning to the left, shoot to the right, and not only there - they also aim backwards. As for their shooting on foot, they stand with their legs wide apart, take a wide step and bend at the waist, legs half bent. Therefore, they have the ability to pierce the shell with their archery” 11 . European contemporaries also noted the same: “They shoot further than other nations can”; "They are excellent archers"; “... more skillful ... than Hungarian and Koman (Polovtsian. - A.K.), and their bows are more powerful” 12 . To intimidate enemies, the Mongols used special "whistling" or "rattling" arrows - with drilled tips that emitted a terrifying whistle during flight. Their spears were equipped with special hooks, with which they pulled enemy horsemen from their horses. The shells of the Mongols were made of leather belts woven in several layers (in Russia such shells were called "yarits") and in some cases equipped with metal plates. Light and comfortable, they were invulnerable to enemy arrows at the distance at which the Mongols themselves pierced enemy armor through and through. For the era of the Middle Ages, such an advantage is comparable to what already in modern times, after the invention of firearms, Europeans will receive over "barbarians" and savages who do not know "fiery combat". But not only did the Mongols possess the innate qualities of rider warriors. They learned a lot from the Tanguts, Chinese and Khorezm Muslims they conquered, adopted their experience, their methods of warfare, mastered advanced military equipment for those times - stone-throwing machines, powerful crossbows, mobile towers, rams, catapults, and learned from the Chinese to use during the siege, gunpowder, which was not yet known in Europe. The fiery arrows of the Mongols and incendiary and explosive projectiles based on oil and gunpowder sowed panic among the enemies. In the army of the Mongols were engineers from among the Chinese and Tanguts; they led the siege work in the capture of Central Asian and European cities.
The endurance of the Mongols knew no limits. They were accustomed to both severe heat and severe cold (because both are not uncommon for Mongolia), they could spend several days on a campaign without rest, they did not carry carts and provisions. Mutton served as their usual food, less often horse meat; they also drank mare and sheep's milk, but in general they could eat everything they found, making no distinction between "clean" and "unclean" food and not disdaining even the entrails of the animals they killed, squeezing out the feces with their hands and eating everything else. During a swift campaign, they could do without food at all, in extreme cases, they drank fresh horse blood to maintain their strength - and it was always, as they say, at hand. “Their food is everything that can be chewed, it is they who eat dogs, wolves, foxes and horses, and in case of need they also eat human meat,” the Franciscan monk Giovanni del Plano Carpini, who went with an embassy to their land, wrote about the Mongols. - ... They have no bread, as well as greens and vegetables and nothing else but meat; and they eat so little of it that other peoples can hardly live on it. The Italian monk knew what he was writing about, since he spent almost a year and a half among the Mongols, being content with the meager rations given to him, insufficient even for him, accustomed to fasting and abstinence. His words about the forced cannibalism of the Mongols do not seem fantastic either. Rashid ad-Din, author of the official history of Genghis Khan and his immediate successors, tells of one episode of the Chinese campaign: when the troops of Genghis Khan's son Tului were on the way, "they had no food left, and it came to the point that they ate the corpses of dead people who fell animals and hay. Nevertheless, the campaign continued and was crowned with another victory over the troops of the Chinese emperor. Another story (probably already colored by legend) is cited by Plano Carpini: during the siege of the main Chinese city, the Mongols “did not have enough food supplies at all,” and then Genghis Khan ordered his soldiers “to give one person out of ten for food”! 13 Such stories, passed from mouth to mouth, inspired the opponents of the Mongols with even greater horror than the numerous stories about the atrocities of the Mongols against their enemies.
Mongolian horses were also something extraordinary - the main driving force of any conquest campaigns of that time. Short in stature, but incredibly hardy, they could get their own food - even where other horses were dying of hunger, for example, in the snowy steppe, raking the snow with their hooves. These horses “are very strong, have a calm, docile disposition and without temper, are able to endure wind and frost for a long time,” wrote Chinese diplomats who visited the Mongolian steppes, great connoisseurs of horses. - ... In all cases of a fast race, the Tatars cannot feed their horses to their fill, they are always (after the race) freed from their saddles, they are bound to be bound so that their muzzle is lifted up, and they wait until they qi(life force. - A.K.) will come into balance, breathing will calm down and the legs will cool down. Each Mongol warrior was supposed to have not one, but several horses: usually two or three, and for commanders - six or seven or more. A tired horse was never saddled again, but allowed to rest. This is also why the Mongol army was much more mobile than any other. In battle, the horse was also protected by a leather shell - a “mask” (covering the muzzle) and “koyars” (covering the chest and sides). This did not hamper the movements of the horse, but protected it well from arrows and spears. The Mongols and their horses were able to cross the widest and deepest rivers. For this purpose, each Mongol had a special leather bag, tightly tied and filled with air; everything necessary for the war was put there, and sometimes the soldiers themselves were placed (such improvised ships made of ox or cowhide could serve for several people). These bags were tied to the tails of the horses and made them swim forward on a par with those horses that were controlled by people. Moreover, the horses swam in a strictly defined order, which allowed them to immediately join the battle upon completion of the crossing.
The Mongols paid great attention to reconnaissance, a thorough study of the enemy and the area in which they were to fight. Born steppes, they had truly eagle eyesight, an exceptional eye, easily found landmarks in any area, even completely unfamiliar to them. “Their moving army is always afraid of a surprise attack from an ambush,” Chinese diplomats say, and therefore “even from the flanks ... without fail, first of all, horse patrols are sent in all directions.” “They suddenly attack and seize those who either live or pass there in order to find out the true state of affairs, such as: what are the best roads and whether it is possible to advance along them; what are the cities that can be attacked; what lands can be fought; in what places you can camp; in what direction are the enemy troops; in which areas there is provisions and grass. Depending on the information received, the Mongols acted using various tricks and tricks - either enveloping the enemy from the flanks, or luring him into a pre-prepared trap. As a rule, they were ahead of the enemy by several moves. When they started the war, they already knew everything about their enemies, while their own intentions remained unknown. In a word, they were ideal warriors who possessed some incomprehensible, supernatural abilities for war, for the destruction of their own kind. Knowing neither pity nor compassion, surpassing in strength, ferocity and speed of movement all the then known tribes and peoples, they seemed to come from some completely different world - and they were representatives of another world unknown to Europeans, another civilization unknown to them. Today they would probably be called supermen. In the categories of the Middle Ages, another expression was found, more capacious and definite. Contemporaries saw in the unknown aliens the messengers of the underworld, people from hell - "Tartar", harbingers of the approaching - and already very close! - the end of the world.
But, perhaps, the main feature of the wars waged by the Mongols was their use of the conquered peoples as the vanguard of their troops, human shield or battering ram. “In all the conquered countries, they immediately kill princes and nobles who inspire fear that they may someday offer any resistance. Armed, they send warriors and villagers fit for battle against their will into battle in front of them, ”the Hungarian monk-missionary Julian reported on the eve of the Mongol invasion of Russia. “…Warriors… who are driven into battle, even if they fight well and win, gratitude is not great; if they die in battle, there is no concern for them, but if they retreat in battle, then they are mercilessly killed by the Tatars. Therefore, when fighting, they prefer to die in battle than under the swords of the Tatars, and they fight more bravely ... ”15 It was these masses of many thousands of people who were sent primarily to storm the fortresses, including those that belonged to their own rulers; Naturally, they were the first to die from the arrows and stones of the besieged. “Whenever they attack big cities, they first attack small cities, capture the population, steal it and use it for siege work,” wrote Zhao Hong, the ambassador of the South Chinese Sung state, who visited the Mongols in 1221. - Then they give the order that each mounted warrior must capture ten people. When enough people are captured, then each person is obliged to collect some grass or firewood, earth or stones. [Tatars] drive them day and night; if people lag behind, they are killed. When the people are driven in, they fill up the ditches around the city walls with what they have brought, and immediately level the ditches; some are used to service chariots ... catapult installations and other work. At the same time [Tatars] do not spare even tens of thousands of people. Therefore, during the assault on cities and fortresses, they are all taken without exception. When the city walls are broken, [the Tatars] kill everyone, without taking apart the old and the small, the beautiful and the ugly, the poor and the rich, the resisting and the submissive, as a rule, without any mercy” 16 . Monstrous cruelty, paralyzing any will to resist, is another terrible feature of the Mongol wars. When taking enemy cities, there was a strict rule, frankly formulated by the famous Chinese minister of the first Mongol khans Yelü Chutsai: mercy in all cases." So, on the eve of the fall of the Chinese capital Kaifeng, the commander of the troops, Subedei, sent a report to the great khan: “This city resisted us for a long time, many soldiers were killed and wounded, so [I] want to cut it all out” 17 .
So it was during the conquest of China; this will also be the case with the conquest of Volga Bulgaria, Russia, Hungary ... The troops of the conquered countries (“dead states”, in the terminology of Chinese historiographers) made up a significant part of the Mongol army itself. This has been going on since the time when the soldiers of Genghis Khan fought with neighboring tribes related to them - the Naimans, Tatars, Merkits, Kereits and others who were part of their army; this continued in the course of subsequent conquests. And therefore, as they moved west, the Mongol army did not weaken, as is usually the case during lengthy military campaigns, especially on foreign, enemy territory, but, on the contrary, strengthened, became more crowded. However, we will talk about this in more detail when we talk about the participation of the Kipchaks-Polovtsians, Ases-Alans, "Mordans", and Russians in the conquests of Batu and his commanders.
The Hungarian monk Julian, mentioned above, gave another curious evidence in this regard: all those people whom the Mongols force to serve themselves, they "oblige ... henceforth to be called Tatars." This is one of the explanations for the name under which the Mongols appear in almost all medieval sources - not only Russian, but also Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Western European, etc. In reality, the Mongols themselves never called themselves Tatars and have long been at enmity with the Tatars: so , it was the Tatars who once killed the father of Genghis Khan Yesugai-Baatur; later, Genghis Khan brutally avenged the death of his father and exterminated almost all the Tatars in a bloody war. Nevertheless, their name was firmly connected with the name of his own people. And the point here is not the desire of the Mongols themselves to call the defeated enemies by this name, as Julian believed; and not even that the surviving Tatars supposedly constituted the vanguard of their army, and therefore “their name spread everywhere, as they shouted everywhere:“ Here come the Tatars! . Modern researchers focus on the fact that the Tatar tribes were the historical predecessors of the Mongols and the latter eventually took their place. Mongolian-speaking Tatars lived in Eastern Mongolia; their indigenous yurt was located near Lake Buir-Nur, near the nomad camps of the Mongols proper. In the times preceding the birth of Genghis Khan, the Tatars dominated the entire region, so that “because of their extraordinary greatness and honorable position, other Turkic families ... became known by their name and were all called Tatars,” notes Rashid in his excursion into the history of the Mongols ad-Din. Back in the 11th century, the vast spaces between Northern China and Eastern Turkestan were called by their name the "Tatar steppe" (just as the "Kipchak steppe" - Desht-i-Kipchak - called the space between Western Turkestan and the Lower Danube). And when a century and a half later the Mongols occupied these vast territories, subjugated them to their power, in the Turkic and Muslim environment they themselves began to be called Tatars. From the Polovtsy, this name became known in Russia and Hungary, and then throughout Latin Europe 19 . It was fixed in the historical tradition for the Mongols and the entire multi-ethnic population of their empire. So this name has a very distant relation to modern Tatars. The lands conquered by the Mongols - the vast expanses of Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia, including Russia - the future Muscovy - for many centuries began to be indicated on European maps with the ominous word "Tartaria", in which one can easily hear not only the name of the Tatars themselves - that is Mongols, but still the same name of the underworld - the monstrous "tartar" - the abode of demons and other dark forces ...
But let us return to the events that immediately preceded the great Western campaign. The troops of the central uluses of the Mongol Empire "all together" set in motion in February - March 1236. They spent most of the spring and summer months on the road, reports Rashid ad-Din, “and in the fall, within the Bulgar, they united with the Jochi clan: Batu, Horde, Shiban and Tangut, who were also assigned to those lands.” “The land groaned and buzzed from the multitude of the troops, and wild beasts and predatory animals became stupefied from the large number and noise of the hordes” - this is how Juvaini describes the beginning of the campaign.
Shortly before the invasion of the Mongols into Volga Bulgaria, on August 3, 1236, a solar eclipse occurred, observed throughout Eastern Europe and noted by chroniclers. Darkness covered the sun first from the west, leaving only a narrow crescent ("like a month of four days"), and then went to the east 20 . In this heavenly sign, many saw a harbinger of future terrible events: “... And there was fear and trembling on all who saw and heard this ...” The first blow of the Mongol army fell on Volga Bulgaria, the strongest Muslim state in Eastern Europe. Let me remind you that back in 1223, the Bulgarians defeated the detachment of Jebe and Subedei, who were returning home after the first campaign to the west. Then the Bulgarians used the favorite tactics of the Mongols themselves, managing to lure them into a pre-prepared trap. And later, the Bulgarians had to constantly face the Mongol detachments that attacked their lands. So it was in 1229, when the Mongols captured Saksin and defeated the Bulgarian outposts on Yaik; so it was three years later, in 1232, when the Mongols reappeared within their borders and "wintered, not reaching the Great Bulgarian City." Back in 1230, shortly after the defeat on Yaik, the Bulgarians made peace with the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, the strongest of the Russian princes of that time, and thus secured their western borders. Until the time it seemed that they were able to hold back the onslaught of a formidable enemy. But those were only advanced, reconnaissance detachments. When the Mongols attacked the Bulgarians with all their might, their fate was sealed.
In the summer of 1236, the troops of Batu and his brothers spent at the very borders of the Bulgarian land. It was at this time that the Hungarian Dominican monk Julian found himself here, heading for missionary purposes to the pagan Hungarians (Ugrians) who lived in the Urals. In addition to missionary, Julian also pursued other, secret goals; in any case, both then and later he acted very skillfully, obtaining important information about the movements and intentions of the Mongols 21 . Julian managed to find his long-lost relatives, but here he also found the “ambassador of the Tatar leader” - almost the ambassador of Batu himself, who had some kind of negotiations with the Ugrians. From this ambassador, Julian learned that the Mongol army was in the neighborhood, at a distance of five day's marches; it intended to "go against Alemannia" (Germany) and was only waiting for "the other one, which was sent to defeat the Persians" 22 . The mention of the Persians, as well as of Alemannia as the main goal of the Western campaign of the Mongols, is not entirely correct (it is possible that this is the result of deliberate misinformation by the Mongol ambassador). But the fact that the "other army" was to connect with the first is an undoubted fact. And we know that at the head of this “other” army, marching from the depths of Asia, were the senior princes of the Mongol Empire, and the army was led by the best commander of the empire, Subedei Baatur, who knew perfectly well the area in which the Mongols were to fight, and all the habits and tricks enemy.
Coming from the Mongol tribe of the Uryankhai, Subedei, "a brave brave man, an excellent rider and shooter," very early switched to the service of Genghis Khan 23 . He began his career as a "hostage son", then he was a foreman, a centurion, and so he went through all the stages of military service, eventually becoming related to the Genghisids through marriage with a princess from their Tumegan family. "Support and support in bloody battles" called him Genghis Khan, and the enemies called him "dog", "fatted human meat" and ready for anything to achieve his goal. They have “...iron hearts, sabers instead of whips. They feed on dew, ride on the wind. In the days of battles they eat human meat, in the days of fights human flesh serves as food for them” - such were the generals of Genghis Khan, and the first of them - Subedei-Baatur 24 . “You say to them: “Forward, against the enemy!” / And they will crush flint. / If you order to go back - / Though they will push the rocks apart, / They will break through the white-stone on the spot, / The bogs and swamps will pass" - and these are the words of Genghis Khan himself about people like his faithful "chain dog" 25. 61-year-old Subedei (he was born in 1175) actually led the Western campaign, as he led the previous campaigns both in the time of Genghis Khan and Ogedei Khan. The rest of the princes could feel at ease “under his wing,” as Ogedei himself later put it, summing up the results of Batu’s military campaign in Russia and other Western countries. However, Batu also had his own excellent commander - together with him (and partly instead of him) his troops in the Western campaign were led by Buraldai (or Burundai, as the Russian chronicles will call him), a relative and successor of the famous Boorchi-noyon, the first associate and emir Genghis Khan and the leader of the "right wing" of the entire Mongol army.
Having united, the troops began decisive action. “Batu with Shiban, Buraldai and the army went on a campaign against the Bulars (here: Bulgarians. - A.K.) and Bashgirds (Bashkirs; here, probably: the Ural Hungarians. - A.K.) ... and in a short time, without great effort, took possession of them and carried out a beating and robbery there, ”reports Rashid ad-Din 26 and then adds:“ They (the Mongols. - A.K.) reached the Great City and its other regions, defeated the army there and forced subdue them." True, the Mongols, of course, had to make an effort. The Bulgarians had a strong army, there were many fortresses in the country, some of them, according to a contemporary, could put up to 50 thousand soldiers. The capital of the country was especially fortified - the Great City, as Russian chroniclers and Eastern chroniclers alike called it. The city was located on the Maly Cheremshan River, on the site of the Bilyar settlement (in the current Alekseevsky district of Tatarstan), about 40 kilometers south of Kama 27 . By the beginning of the 13th century, it was one of the largest cities in Europe. The city was surrounded by several ramparts and ditches, in the center there was a citadel, protected by a powerful, up to 10 meters thick, wooden wall. There were also wells with good drinking water, so that the city seemed perfectly adapted both to repulse an enemy assault and to a long siege. Alas, it is in these wells that archaeologists find tragic evidence of the last minutes of the life of the defenders of the city: people were thrown here still alive, dooming them to a painful death... population, - reports a contemporary of the events of Juvaini. “For example, residents like them were (partly) killed, and partly captured.” The Russian chronicler wrote about the same: “In the same autumn, the godless Tatars came from the eastern country to the Bulgarian land, and took the glorious Great Bulgarian City, and killed with weapons from an old man to a young one and to a real baby, and took a lot of goods, and their city they set them on fire and overwhelmed the whole earth.”28 As archaeologists testify, the capital of Greater Bulgaria never revived: a new settlement will appear here next to the old one, which has turned into ashes 29 .
The same fate will await other cities that find themselves in the path of the Mongol army. The conquerors spared only those who immediately and unconditionally recognized their power, and even then not always. Any attempts at resistance, as we know, were suppressed ruthlessly. When in the autumn of 1237 the monk Julian, already known to us, goes a second time to preach to the pagan Hungarians, he, having reached the border of the Russian and Bulgarian lands, learns with horror that he has nowhere to go further and no one to preach: “Oh, a sad sight that inspires horror in everyone! The pagan Hungarians, and the Bulgars, and many kingdoms were completely destroyed by the Tatars.
However, the complete extermination of the inhabitants was not included in the plans of the conquerors. In this case, there would be no one to work for them, pay tribute, provide them with everything they need. Batu and other princes readily accepted those Bulgarian princes who expressed their obedience to them. There were two of them - some Bayan and Dzhiku: "they were generously endowed" and "came back", that is, they regained their power, limited, however, by the recognition of the power of the Mongol khans. The Mongol conquerors will behave in exactly the same way in Russia and in other countries they have captured. The merciless ruin of the country, monstrous cruelty, violence - and at the same time recognition for the princes, who expressed their obedience to the new rulers, of all the lands that previously belonged to them, quite merciful treatment of them, including them in the power structures existing in the Mongol Empire.
The conquest of Bulgaria was, however, far from final. When the Mongols leave the country and fall on the Russian lands, the Bulgarian princes - obviously, the same Bayan and Dzhiku - will rise up against the conquerors. It will take a new campaign in their lands of Subedei himself, new massacres. Ultimately, Great Bulgaria on the Volga will cease to exist as an independent state, and its lands will become part of Batu's own ulus and his descendants.
Having defeated Bulgaria, the Mongol army was divided. Batu himself, his brothers, as well as the princes Kadan and Kulkan moved to the lands of the Volga peoples neighboring Bulgaria - the Moksha and Erzi (Mordovians), as well as the Burtases (whose ethnicity is not precisely defined) - and, as Rashid ad-Din reports, " took over in a short time." The warlike Mordovian tribes at that time were at enmity with each other; one of the Mordovian princes, Puresh, the ruler of the Mokshans, was an ally of the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yuri Vsevolodovich; his opponent Purgas (the ruler of the Erzya) staked on the Volga Bulgarians and was cruelly at enmity with Russia. They also chose different paths in relation to the Mongols who invaded their country. “There were two princes,” the Hungarian Julian reported about the “kingdom of the Mordans” (Mordovians). “One prince with all the people and family submitted to the lord of the Tatars (apparently, Puresh. - A.K.), but the other with a few people went to very fortified places to defend himself if he had enough strength.” This second prince, in all probability, was Purgas; the Mongols will resume the war with him later, after the ruin of North-Eastern Russia. As for Puresh, the Mokshans led by him will take an active part in the subsequent Batu wars in Hungary and Poland. Julian testifies that “within one year or a little longer period”, that is, for 1236-1237, the Mongols “took possession of the five greatest pagan kingdoms”, among which he included Volga Bulgaria, the lands of the Ural pagan Hungarians, “the kingdom Mordans ", as well as some other state formations - Sascia, or Faskhia (in which they see either Saksin in the lower reaches of the Volga, conquered by the Mongols back in 1229, or the lands of the Bashkirs), Merovia (probably the Mari - the Cheremis of Russian chronicles) and completely undetectable Vedin and Poidovia. They "also took 60 very fortified castles, so crowded that 50 thousand armed soldiers could come out of one," adds the Hungarian monk.
Another part of the Mongol army, led by princes Guyuk and Mengu and Emir Subedei, attacked the Polovtsian nomad camps, pushing the Polovtsians to the Caspian coast.
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