The history of any nation is characterized by periods of prosperity and oppression. Rus' is no exception. After the Golden Age, under the rule of powerful and intelligent princes, a period of internecine wars for the place of ruler began. There was only one throne, but many pretenders.
The powerful state suffered from the enmity of the sons and grandsons of princely blood, their brothers and uncles. During this period, Batu organized campaigns of his troops. The lack of unity and mutual assistance made Batu's campaigns against Rus' successful. The cities in those days were weak: the fortresses had grown old, there was a shortage of money, and there was no training of soldiers. Ordinary townspeople and villagers stood up to protect their homes. They had no military experience and were not familiar with weapons.
Other reasons for the defeat include the good preparation and organization of Batu. Back in the days of Genghis Khan, scouts talked about the wealth of the cities of Rus' and their weakness. As a reconnaissance operation trip to the river Kalka(battle 31 May 1223). Strength and the strictest discipline helped the Mongol-Tatars to win. After the capture of China, the latest technologies appeared in their hands without existing analogues in the world.
The first campaign of Batu to Rus' and its results
The Mongols invaded Rus' twice. The first campaign of Batu to Rus' took place in 1237-1238 years. At the head of the Mongol-Tatar army was grandson of Genghis Khan - Jochi-Batu (Batu). In his power he had the western part of the lands.
The death of Genghis Khan moved military campaigns for some time. During this time, the forces of the Mongols grew significantly. The Khan's sons managed to subdue Northern China and Volga Bulgaria. The army of generals was replenished with Kipchaks.
The first invasion was not a surprise for Rus'. The chronicles describe in detail the stages of the movement of the Mongols before their campaign against Rus'. In the cities there was an active preparation for the invasion of the horde. The Russian princes did not forget the battle on the Kalka, but they hoped to defeat the dangerous enemy easily and quickly. But the military forces of Batu were huge - up to 75 thousand well-equipped warriors.
At the end 1237 year the horde crossed the Volga and stood at the borders of the Ryazan principality. The Ryazan people categorically refused Batu's proposals for subjugation and constant payment of tribute. Ryazan principality asked for military assistance from the princes of Rus', but did not receive it. The fighting continued 5 days. The capital has fallen and was completely destroyed. The population, including the princely family, was massacred. A similar thing happened with the Ryazan lands.
This was not the end of Batu's first campaign. Army went to the Vladimir principality. The prince managed to send his squad near Kolomna, but there it was completely defeated. Batu went to a small city at that time - Moscow. She resisted heroically under the leadership of Philip Nyanka. The city stood for 5 days. In early February, the Mongol army approached Vladimir and laid siege to it. It was not possible to enter the city through the Golden Gate, they had to make holes in the wall. The annals describe terrible pictures of robberies and violence. The Metropolitan, the prince's family and other people hid in the Assumption Cathedral. They were mercilessly set on fire. The death of people was slow and long - from smoke and fire.
The prince himself with the Vladimir army and the Yuryevsky, Uglitsky, Yaroslavl and Rostov regiments moved north to resist the horde. IN 1238 year, all the regiments of the prince were destroyed near the river Sit.
Horde met strong resistance from Torzh and Kozelsk. Cities took more than a week each. Fearing the melting snow, the khan turned back. Novgorod survived in this campaign Batu. Some historians believe that the Novgorod prince was able to pay off the battle with the Mongol-Tatars. There is a version that Batu and A. Nevsky are one and the same person. Since Novgorod was the city of Alexander, he did not ruin it.
Whatever happened, but the khan turned back and left Rus'. The retreat was like a raid. The army was divided into detachments and the "network" went through small settlements, smashing and taking away everything of value.
In the Polovtsian lands, the horde was recovering from losses and gathering strength for a new campaign.
The second campaign of Batu to Rus' and its results
The second invasion took place in 1239-1240 years. In the spring, Batu went to southern Rus'. Already in March the horde took possession of Pereyaslavl, in the middle of autumn Chernigov. The second campaign of Batu to Rus' famous for the capture of the capital of Rus' - Kyiv.
Each city fortress used all its forces to fight the enemy. However, the disparity in power was obvious. Many chronicles keep records of the heroic behavior of Russian soldiers. During the invasion of Batu, Kiev was ruled by Daniel of Galicia. During the battles for the city, the prince was absent from it. The army was under the command of the governor Dmitry. Batu offered Kyiv to submit peacefully and pay tribute, but the townspeople refused. With the help of bulky wall-beating devices, the Mongols entered the city and pushed back the inhabitants. The remaining defenders gathered on Detinets and built a new fortification. However, he could not withstand the powerful blow of the Mongols. The Tithe Church was the last tombstone of the inhabitants of Kyiv. The governor survived this battle, but was badly wounded. Batu pardoned him for his heroic behavior. This practice has been widespread among the Mongols since ancient times. Dmitry participated in Batu's campaigns against Europe.
Further, the path of the Mongol commander lay to the West. On the way, the Galicia-Volyn principality and part of Hungary and Poland were captured. The troops reached the Adriatic Sea. Most likely, the campaign would have continued further, but the unexpected death of the kagan forced the grandson of Genghis Khan to return to his native lands. He wanted to participate in the kurultai, where the choice of a new kagan would take place.
It was no longer possible to re-assemble a huge military army. For this reason, the horde did not conquer Europe. Rus' took the whole blow. The military action had severely battered and exhausted her.
The results of Batu's campaigns against Rus'
Two campaigns of the horde brought multiple losses to the Russian land. However, the ancient Russian civilization was able to resist, the nationality was preserved. Many principalities were destroyed and ruined, people were killed or taken prisoner. From 74 cities 49 were wiped off the face of the earth. Half of them did not return their appearance or were not rebuilt at all.
In 1242, the Mongol Empire appeared new state - the Golden Horde with its capital at Sarai-Batu. The Russian princes were to come to Batu and express their obedience. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began. The princes visited the horde many times with expensive gifts and large tributes, for which they received confirmation of the principality. The Mongols took advantage of the internecine struggle of the princes and added fuel to the fire. The blood of the ruling elite was shed.
The war led to the loss of valuable craftsmen from various industries. Some knowledge has been lost forever. Stone urban planning, glass production and the production of products with cloisonne enamel stopped. Unprivileged classes became in power, as many princes and combatants died in battles. Batu's campaigns lead to a decline in the economy, politics, and culture. The stagnation dragged on for many years.
There were demographic problems. Most of the population where hostilities took place was killed. The survivors moved to the safe western and northwestern regions. They did not own land and became dependent on the nobility. A reserve of feudally dependent people was created. The nobility also began to reorient themselves to the land, since existence at the expense of tribute was not possible - it went to the Tatars. Large private landownership began to grow.
The princes increased their power over the people, since the dependence on the veche was minimal. Behind them were the Mongol troops and Batu, who "granted" them power.
However, veche institutions did not disappear. They were used to gather people and repulse the Horde. Numerous large-scale unrest forced the Mongols to soften their yoke policy.
The invasion of the Mongols in Rus' began in 1237, then, under the leadership of Khan Batai, a seventy-five thousandth army began the invasion. This army was well trained and equipped, they had all the necessary equipment. The Khan's empire was the largest in the history of those times, it came with the goal of burning all the cities and villages that would not submit to them and, at the same time, killing everyone. Then impose tribute everywhere and put their people, the Baskans, in power. The Mongol-Tatars attacked unexpectedly, but this did not decide the course of the war, although it accelerated it. There were many reasons why Rus' would fall, so the Mongols were completely confident in their victory.
At that time, the country was completely plundered and divided among petty princes. While the Mongol-Tatars were united and powerful, they prospered. This went on for a whole century and a half, and only after that, in 1380, Rus' flourished a little and she managed to gather an army, there was a single commander Dmitry Ivanovich, it was he who decided the outcome of the battle on the Kulikovo field and repulsed the enemy. Then Rus' turned from a shameful nation to a fighting and successful one.
At the beginning of the war, today's Russia was not united, because of this it was weak and therefore the Mongols, the Golden Horde, ruled for a whole century and a half. This defeat was a retribution for the greed of the principalities and their eternal division of land among themselves. At the beginning of the war, in December, Rostov was burned, and not even the month of Kolomna had passed. Then in the spring almost all the principalities were conquered. So they moved principality after principality, and in the end, in 1240, they took Kyiv.
After Rus', the Mongol-Tatars did not stop and moved to Europe. They won victories in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary. However, tormented by battles, they soon returned to the Volga region, here they made their capital, as it were. For almost a century and a half, the Mongols mocked the Russian people, robbed them, culture fell into desolation, despotism was created.
The beginning of the invasion and conquest
In the twelfth century there was still no single center in Mongolia, the connection took place with the help of the leader Temuchin at a general meeting, he was proclaimed a common khan. Then an empire was created, the troops began to develop a strategy. As a result, they chose the decimal principle, this is when one organization consists of ten people, and the next one with the addition of zero.To control the entire army, they created a special unified guard, which was subordinate only to the emperor. There were no firearms right away, the Mongols' cavalry was the best in its class. They won in any battles, this is due to the fact that the troops were all trained and well organized.
Genghis Khan died in 1227, then his third son was elected khan, after that a meeting was held where it was decided to seize the western lands, then there was already a threat of seizing Russian lands and everyone understood this. Batu was chosen as the great khan-commander. Ten years later, the conquest of Rus' began. Then the principalities were so unorganized that they fought one by one, and the horde had a large, cohesive army.
In 1238, after the victory over Ryazan, the troops burned Vladimir. The army of the horde stopped just before Novgorod, there was a crossroads and it was necessary to turn to the South. After a short break, the Mongols again launched an offensive, destroyed Chernigov and Kyiv, local principalities along the way. After they went to Europe, however, after Poland and the Czech Republic, they stopped.
When the year 1236 came, Batu Khan launched an attack on the Volga Bulgaria, after which it was decided to go to Rus'. They captured it as a result of several campaigns.
Some details of the battle
Chronicle of events:
✔ -1238 the conquest of the north-east of Rus'.
✔ -1240 conquered Chernigov and Kiev principalities.
✔ defense of Ryazan.
✔ Defense of Vladimir
✔ Kozelsk was stormed for seven weeks, calling its people evil.
✔ there was a battle on the City River, where the Russian troops did not allow the invaders to pass to Novgorod.
✔ Kyiv fell, this is considered the final defeat and capture of Rus'.
Rus' lost most of all in these battles, if they went through Europe only by invasion, then in present-day Russia a yoke was established. As a result, the conquered lands of Bataille were simply stunning in size. The entire empire of the Mongols covered almost all of Eurasia.
Rus' put up its first resistance with its retinue in 1223. Then the yoke went to the Polovtsy, who asked for help from the Russian princes. Then a big battle took place, but the Mongol-Tatars inflicted a crushing and humiliating defeat on all the assembled militias. Then many Russian princes died and about ten thousand soldiers from the side of the militias.
Reasons for the defeat :
✔ Not all the princes came to the rescue, but only a part, there was no unity.
✔ They underestimated the power of the Mongol-Tatars.
✔ The battle was poorly prepared and coordinated, there was no single formation.
Consequences of the war
Many monasteries were completely destroyed and destroyed. It was hard for the peasants, they were constantly robbed by everyone and sundry, even local gangs. Usually, during the invasion, all outbuildings were burned down, cattle were taken for the needs of the invaders' army. As soon as the harvest was harvested, they would come and rob it. Russian peasants were put on stream and simply sold to the east into slavery.
Of course, all precious items went to waste, everything was exported from Rus'. The international position of the remaining principalities came to naught, there were no ties with other states. Some, on the contrary, took advantage of this and also plundered Russian lands. The path to the Baltic Sea was also cut off, in general, we can say that all production and trade began.
The yoke did not allow to develop in any way, there was not even money, so that there would be no trade turnover. At that time, the European states were gradually moving towards capitalism, while Russia, on the contrary, went down to the slave-owning system and was mired in feudalism. It is impossible to imagine what would have happened next if not for the resistance of the Russian people, perhaps the Mongols would have taken over the whole world.
The Orthodox Church was a little lucky, because the Tatars had religious tolerance for religions. Not only did they not take everything away from the churches, but they even sometimes encouraged them. Therefore, the church has become not only an educator of faith in God, but also in the Russian spirit in unity and solidarity.
The main deplorable result that this invasion and despotism did was the cutting off of Eastern Rus' from Western Europe, it remained isolated and did not develop in any way, unlike them. In Europe, they did not even know what the Russian people had to endure and what feats they accomplished, defending themselves and stopping the attack on them with their own forces.
The main negative consequences that the Mongol-Tatars made to Rus' :
✔ Rus' not only lagged behind Europe for several centuries, but after the occupation, it restored everything old for a long time, not to mention development.
✔ The economy was almost completely destroyed, many people died and the educated were taken away. There was no economic development, as well as crafts.
✔ Culture has also disappeared, not to mention development. After the occupation, no churches were built for some time, because it was necessary to revive at least agriculture.
All contacts with Western partners and other major countries were lost. International, as well as trade, relations practically did not exist. Tribute was collected from the princes for a long time, everyone who refused to pay perished, made punitive campaigns.
There is an opinion that at least the invasion was very negative for everything in general. However, this helped to rally the entire Russian people with their neighbors. As a result, a mighty nation appeared, which is still united.
In conclusion, it should be noted the main reasons that led to the defeat of the Russians and such a long occupation. If we consider all this, then feudal fragmentation largely influenced. Also, there was no center for the state, there was no joint army. In addition to the fact that there was no single army, the princes were also at enmity with each other. Even those Russian squads that existed were not properly trained and organized, unlike rivals.
Empire on a planetary scale
The topic of the Tatar-Mongolian yoke still causes a lot of controversy, reasoning and versions. Was it or was it not, in principle, what role did the Russian princes play in it, who attacked Europe and why, how did it all end? Here is an interesting article on the topic of Batu's campaigns in Rus'. Let's get some more information on this...
Historiography about the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars (or the Tatar-Mongols, or the Tatars and the Mongols, and so on, as you like) on Rus' has more than 300 years. This invasion has become a generally accepted fact since the end of the 17th century, when one of the founders of Russian Orthodoxy, the German Innokenty Gizel, wrote the first textbook on the history of Russia - "Synopsis". According to this book, the Russians hollowed out their native history for the next 150 years. However, until now, none of the historians has taken the liberty of making a "road map" of Batu Khan's campaign in the winter of 1237-1238 to North-Eastern Rus'.
A little background
At the end of the 12th century, a new leader appeared among the Mongol tribes - Temujin, who managed to unite most of them around him. In 1206, he was proclaimed at a kurultai (an analogue of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR) a general Mongol khan under the nickname Genghis Khan, who created the notorious "state of nomads." Then without wasting a minute, the Mongols set about conquering the surrounding territories. By 1223, when the Mongol detachment of the commanders of Jebe and Subudai clashed with the Russian-Polovtsian army on the Kalka River, zealous nomads managed to conquer territories from Manchuria in the east to Iran, the southern Caucasus and modern western Kazakhstan, defeating the state of Khorezmshah and capturing part of northern China along the way.
In 1227, Genghis Khan died, but his heirs continued their conquests. By 1232, the Mongols reached the middle Volga, where they waged war with the nomadic Polovtsy and their allies, the Volga Bulgars (ancestors of the modern Volga Tatars). In 1235 (according to other sources - in 1236), a decision was made at the kurultai on a global campaign against the Kipchaks, Bulgars and Russians, as well as further to the West. This campaign was led by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Khan Batu (Batu). Here we must make a digression. In 1236-1237, the Mongols, who by that time were fighting in vast areas from modern Ossetia (against the Alans) to the modern Volga republics, captured Tatarstan (Volga Bulgaria) and in the fall of 1237 began a concentration for a campaign against the Russian principalities.
In general, why the nomads from the banks of the Kerulen and Onon needed the conquest of Ryazan or Hungary is not really known. All attempts by historians to laboriously justify such a agility of the Mongols look rather pale. Regarding the Western campaign of the Mongols (1235-1243), they came up with a story that the attack on the Russian principalities was a measure to secure their flank and destroy potential allies of their main enemies - the Polovtsy (partially the Polovtsy went to Hungary, but the bulk of them became the ancestors of modern Kazakhs). True, neither the Ryazan principality, nor Vladimir-Suzdal, nor the so-called. The "Novgorod Republic" were never allies of either the Polovtsians or the Volga Bulgars.
Steppe ubermensch on a tireless Mongolian horse (Mongolia, 1911)
Also, almost all historiography about the Mongols does not really say anything about the principles of the formation of their armies, the principles of their management, and so on. At the same time, it was believed that the Mongols formed their tumens (field operational formations), including from the conquered peoples, nothing was paid for the service of the soldier, for any fault they were threatened with the death penalty.
Scientists tried to explain the successes of the nomads this way and that way, but each time it came out quite funny. Although, in the end, the level of organization of the army of the Mongols - from intelligence to communications, could be envied by the armies of the most developed states of the 20th century (although after the end of the era of miraculous campaigns, the Mongols - already 30 years after the death of Genghis Khan - instantly lost all their skills). For example, it is believed that the head of the Mongolian intelligence, the commander Subudai, maintained relations with the Pope, the German-Roman emperor, Venice, and so on.
Moreover, the Mongols, of course, during their military campaigns acted without any radio communications, railways, road transport, and so on. In Soviet times, historians interspersed the traditional by that time fantasy about the steppe aubermenshes, who do not know fatigue, hunger, fear, etc., with the classic shamanism in the field of the class-formational approach:
With a general recruitment into the army, each ten wagons had to put up from one to three soldiers, depending on the need, and provide them with food. Weapons in peacetime were stored in special warehouses. It was the property of the state and was issued to soldiers when they went on a campaign. Upon returning from a campaign, each soldier was required to hand over his weapons. The soldiers did not receive salaries, but they themselves paid the tax with horses or other cattle (one head from a hundred heads). In the war, each warrior had an equal right to use booty, a certain part of which he was obliged to hand over to the khan. In the periods between campaigns, the army was sent to public works. One day a week was set aside for the service of the khan.
The decimal system was used as the basis for the organization of the troops. The army was divided into tens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands (tumyns or darkness), at the head of which were foremen, centurions and thousandths. The chiefs had separate tents and a reserve of horses and weapons.
The main branch of the army was the cavalry, which was divided into heavy and light. Heavy cavalry fought with the main enemy forces. Light cavalry carried guard duty and conducted reconnaissance. She started a fight, upsetting the enemy ranks with the help of arrows. The Mongols were excellent archers from horseback. The light cavalry pursued the enemy. The cavalry had a large number of clockwork (reserve) horses, which allowed the Mongols to move very quickly over long distances. A feature of the Mongolian army was the complete absence of a wheeled convoy. Only the wagons of the khan and especially noble persons were transported on wagons ...
Each warrior had a file for sharpening arrows, an awl, a needle, thread and a sieve for sifting flour or filtering muddy water. The rider had a small tent, two tursuks (leather bags): one for water, the other for kruta (dried sour cheese). If food supplies ran low, the Mongols bled the horses and drank it. In this way, they could be content with up to 10 days.
In general, the very term "Mongol-Tatars" (or Tatar-Mongols) is very bad. It sounds something like Croatian-Indians or Finno-Negroes, if we talk about its meaning. The fact is that Russians and Poles, who encountered nomads in the 15th-17th centuries, called them the same - Tatars. In the future, the Russians often transferred this to other peoples who had nothing to do with the nomadic Turks in the Black Sea steppes. The Europeans also contributed to this mess, who for a long time considered Russia (then Muscovy) as Tatar (more precisely, Tartaria), which led to very bizarre designs.
The view of the French on Russia in the middle of the 18th century
One way or another, the fact that the “Tatars” who attacked Rus' and Europe were also Mongols, the society learned only at the beginning of the 19th century, when Christian Kruse published “Atlas and tables for reviewing the history of all European lands and states from their first population to our times." Then the idiotic term was happily picked up by Russian historians.
Particular attention should also be paid to the issue of the number of conquerors. Naturally, no documentary data on the size of the Mongol army have come down to us, and the most ancient and unquestioningly trusted source among historians is the historical work of a team of authors led by an official of the Iranian state Hulaguid Rashid-ad-Din "List of annals". It is believed that it was written at the beginning of the 14th century in Persian, although it only surfaced at the beginning of the 19th century, the first partial edition in French was published in 1836. Until the middle of the 20th century, this source was not completely translated and published at all.
According to Rashid-ad-Din, by 1227 (the year of the death of Genghis Khan), the total number of the army of the Mongol Empire was 129 thousand people. If you believe Plano Carpini, then 10 years later the army of phenomenal nomads amounted to 150 thousand Mongols proper and another 450 thousand people recruited in a “voluntary-compulsory” order from subject peoples. Pre-revolutionary Russian historians estimated the size of the Batu army, concentrated in the fall of 1237 at the borders of the Ryazan principality, from 300 to 600 thousand people. At the same time, it seemed self-evident that each nomad had 2-3 horses.
By the standards of the Middle Ages, such armies look absolutely monstrous and implausible, we have to admit. However, to reproach pundits for fantasy is too cruel for them. It is unlikely that any of them could even imagine even a couple of tens of thousands of mounted warriors with 50-60 thousand horses, not to mention the obvious problems with managing such a mass of people and providing them with food. Since history is an inexact science, and indeed not a science at all, everyone can evaluate the run-up of fantasy researchers. We will use the already classical estimate of the strength of the Batu army at 130-140 thousand people, which was proposed by the Soviet scientist V.V. Kargalov. His assessment (like all the others, completely sucked from the finger, if we speak with the utmost seriousness) in historiography, however, is prevailing. In particular, it is shared by the largest contemporary Russian researcher of the history of the Mongol Empire, R.P. Khrapachevsky.
From Ryazan to Vladimir
In the autumn of 1237, the Mongol detachments, who fought throughout the spring and summer in the vast expanses from the North Caucasus, the Lower Don and to the middle Volga region, were drawn to the place of general assembly - the Onuz River. It is believed that we are talking about the modern Tsna River in the modern Tambov region. Probably, also some detachments of the Mongols gathered in the upper reaches of the Voronezh and Don rivers. There is no exact date for the start of the Mongols' performance against the Ryazan principality, but it can be assumed that it took place in any case no later than December 1, 1237. That is, the steppe nomads with almost half a million herd of horses decided to go on a campaign already in the winter. This is important for our reconstruction. If so, then they probably had to be sure that in the forests of the Volga-Osk interfluve, still rather weakly colonized by the Russians by that time, they would have enough food for horses and people.
Along the valleys of the Lesnoy and Polny Voronezh rivers, as well as the tributaries of the Pronya River, the Mongol army, moving in one or more columns, passes through the wooded watershed of the Oka and Don. The embassy of the Ryazan prince Fyodor Yuryevich arrives to them, which turned out to be unsuccessful (the prince is killed), and somewhere in the same region the Mongols meet the Ryazan army in the field. In a fierce battle, they destroy it, and then move upstream the Pronya, robbing and destroying small Ryazan cities - Izheslavets, Belgorod, Pronsk, burning Mordovian and Russian villages.
Here it is necessary to make a small clarification: we do not have accurate data on the population in the then North-Eastern Rus', but if we follow the reconstruction of modern scientists and archaeologists (V.P. Darkevich, M.N. Tikhomirov, A.V. Kuza), then it was not large and, in addition, it was characterized by a low density of settlement. For example, the largest city of the Ryazan land - Ryazan, totaled, according to V.P. Darkevich, a maximum of 6-8 thousand people, about 10-14 thousand more people could live in the agricultural district of the city (within a radius of up to 20-30 kilometers). The rest of the cities had a few hundred people, at best, like Murom - up to a couple of thousand. Based on this, it is unlikely that the total population of the Ryazan Principality could exceed 200-250 thousand people.
Of course, 120-140 thousand soldiers were more than an excess number to conquer such a “proto-state”, but we will stick to the classical version.
On December 16, the Mongols, after a march of 350-400 kilometers (that is, the pace of the average daily transition here is up to 18-20 kilometers), go to Ryazan and begin to lay siege to it - they build a wooden fence around the city, build stone-throwing machines, with which they lead bombardment of the city. In general, historians admit that the Mongols achieved incredible - by the standards of that time - success in the siege business. For example, the historian R.P. Khrapachevsky seriously considers that the Mongols were capable of literally a day or two to bung up any stone-throwing machines on the spot from the available wood:
There was everything necessary for the assembly of stone throwers - in the united army of the Mongols there were enough specialists from China and Tangut ..., and the Russian forests supplied the Mongols with wood in abundance for the assembly of siege weapons.
Finally, on December 21, Ryazan fell after a fierce assault. True, an uncomfortable question arises: we know that the total length of the city's defensive fortifications was less than 4 kilometers. Most of the Ryazan soldiers died in the border battle, so it is unlikely that there were many soldiers in the city. Why did the gigantic Mongol army of 140 thousand soldiers sit for 6 whole days under its walls, if the ratio of forces was at least 100-150: 1?
We also do not have any clear evidence of what the climatic conditions were like in December 1238, but since the Mongols chose the ice of the rivers as a way of transportation (there was no other way to go through the wooded area, the first permanent roads in North-Eastern Russia are documented only in XIV century, all Russian researchers agree with this version), it can be assumed that it was already a normal winter with frosts, possibly snow.
Also important is the question of what the Mongolian horses ate during this campaign. From the works of historians and modern studies of steppe horses, it is clear that it was about very unpretentious, small horses, growing at the withers up to 110-120 centimeters. Their main food is hay and grass (they did not eat grain). Under natural habitat conditions, they are unpretentious and quite hardy, and in winter, during tebenevka, they are able to break snow in the steppe and eat last year's grass.
On the basis of this, historians unanimously believe that due to these properties, the question of feeding horses during a campaign in the winter of 1237-1238 did not arise in Rus'. Meanwhile, it is not difficult to notice that the conditions in this region (the thickness of the snow cover, the area of grass stands, and the general quality of phytocenoses) differ from, say, Khalkha or Turkestan. In addition, the winter tebenevka of steppe horses is the following: a herd of horses slowly, passing a few hundred meters a day, moves across the steppe, looking for withered grass under the snow. Animals thus save their energy costs. However, in the campaign against Rus', these horses had to travel 10-20-30 or even more kilometers a day in the cold (see below), carrying luggage or a warrior. Were the horses able to replenish their energy costs under such conditions? Another interesting question: if the Mongolian horses dug snow and found grass under it, then what should be the area of their daily fodder grounds?
After the capture of Ryazan, the Mongols began to move towards the fortress of Kolomna, which is a kind of "gateway" to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Having traveled 130 kilometers from Ryazan to Kolomna, according to Rashid-ad-Din and R.P. Khrapachevsky, the Mongols were “stuck” at this fortress until January 5 or even January 10, 1238 - that is, at least for almost 15-20 days. On the other hand, a strong Vladimir army is moving towards Kolomna, which, probably, the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich equipped immediately after receiving the news of the fall of Ryazan (he and the Chernigov prince refused to help Ryazan). The Mongols send an embassy to him with a proposal to become their tributary, but the negotiations also turn out to be fruitless (according to the Laurentian Chronicle, the prince nevertheless agrees to pay tribute, but still sends troops to Kolomna. It is difficult to explain the logic of such an act).
According to V.V. Kargalov and R.P. Khrapachevsky, the battle near Kolomna began no later than January 9 and it lasted for 5 whole days (according to Rashid ad-Din). Here another logical question immediately arises - historians are sure that the military forces of the Russian principalities as a whole were modest and corresponded to the reconstructions of that era, when an army of 1-2 thousand people was standard, and 4-5 or more thousand people seemed to be a huge army. It is unlikely that the Prince of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich could have collected more (if we make a digression: the total population of the Vladimir land, according to various estimates, varied between 400-800 thousand people, but they were all scattered over a vast territory, and the population of the capital city of the earth - Vladimir, even according to the most daring reconstructions, did not exceed 15-25 thousand people). Nevertheless, near Kolomna, the Mongols were shackled for several days, and the intensity of the battle shows the fact of the death of Genghisid Kulkan, the son of Genghis Khan. With whom did the gigantic army of 140 thousand nomads fight so fiercely? With several thousand Vladimir soldiers?
After the victory near Kolomna, either in a three- or five-day battle, the Mongols cheerfully move along the ice of the Moskva River towards the future Russian capital. They cover a distance of 100 kilometers in literally 3-4 days (the pace of the average daily march is 25-30 kilometers): according to R.P. Khrapachevsky, the nomads began the siege of Moscow on January 15 (according to N.M. Karamzin, on January 20). The nimble Mongols took the Muscovites by surprise - they did not even know about the results of the battle of Kolomna, and after a five-day siege, Moscow shared the fate of Ryazan: the city was burned, all its inhabitants were exterminated or taken prisoner.
Again - Moscow of that time, if we take archeological data as the basis for our reasoning, was a completely tiny town. So, the first fortifications, built back in 1156, had a length of less than 1 kilometer, and the area of the fortress itself did not exceed 3 hectares. By 1237, it is believed that the area of fortifications had already reached 10-12 hectares (that is, about half of the territory of the present Kremlin). The city had its own settlement - it was located on the territory of modern Red Square. The total population of such a city hardly exceeded 1000 people. What the huge army of the Mongols, who supposedly have unique siege technologies, did for five whole days in front of this insignificant fortress, one can only guess.
It is also worth noting here that all historians recognize the fact of the movement of the Mongol-Tatars without a convoy. Say, unpretentious nomads did not need it. Then it is not entirely clear how and on what the Mongols moved their stone-throwing machines, shells for them, forges (for repairing weapons, replenishing the loss of arrowheads, etc.), how they stole prisoners. Since during the entire period of archaeological excavations in the territory of North-Eastern Rus' not a single burial place of “Mongol-Tatars” was found, some historians even agreed on the version that the nomads took their dead back to the steppes (V.P. Darkevich, V. .V. Kargalov). Of course, it’s not even worth raising the question of the fate of the wounded or sick in this light (otherwise our historians will think of the fact that they were eaten, a joke) ...
Nevertheless, after spending about a week in the vicinity of Moscow and plundering its agricultural contado (the main agricultural crop in this region was rye and partly oats, but the steppe horses perceived grain very poorly), the Mongols moved already along the ice of the Klyazma River (crossing the forest watershed between this river and Moscow-river) to Vladimir. Having traveled over 140 kilometers in 7 days (the pace of the average daily march is about 20 kilometers), on February 2, 1238, the nomads begin the siege of the capital of Vladimir land. By the way, it is at this crossing that the Mongolian army of 120-140 thousand people is "caught" by a tiny detachment of the Ryazan boyar Yevpaty Kolovrat, either 700 or 1700 people, against which the Mongols - out of impotence - are forced to use stone-throwing machines in order to defeat him ( it is worth considering that the legend of Kolovrat was recorded, according to historians, only in the 15th century, so ... it is difficult to consider it completely documentary).
Let's ask an academic question: what is an army of 120-140 thousand people with almost 400 thousand horses (and it's not clear if there is a convoy?), moving on the ice of some river Oka or Moscow? The simplest calculations show that even moving along a front of 2 kilometers (in reality, the width of these rivers is much less), such an army in the most ideal conditions (everyone moves at the same speed, observing a minimum distance of 10 meters) stretches for at least 20 kilometers. If we take into account that the width of the Oka is only 150-200 meters, then Batu's gigantic army stretches for almost ... 200 kilometers! Again, if everyone is walking at the same speed, keeping the minimum distance. And on the ice of the Moscow or Klyazma rivers, the width of which varies from 50 to 100 meters at best? At 400-800 kilometers?
It is interesting that none of the Russian scientists over the past 200 years has even asked such a question, seriously believing that giant cavalry armies literally fly through the air.
In general, at the first stage of Batu Khan's invasion of North-Eastern Rus' - from December 1, 1237 to February 2, 1238, the conditional Mongolian horse traveled about 750 kilometers, which gives an average daily rate of movement of 12 kilometers. But if we exclude from the calculations at least 15 days of standing in the Oka floodplain (after the capture of Ryazan on December 21 and the battle of Kolomna), as well as a week of rest and looting near Moscow, the pace of the average daily march of the Mongol cavalry will seriously improve - up to 17 kilometers per day.
It cannot be said that these are some kind of record march rates (the Russian army during the war with Napoleon, for example, made 30-40-kilometer daily marches), the interest here is that all this happened in the dead of winter, and such rates were maintained for quite a long time.
From Vladimir to Kozelsk
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War of the XIII century
Prince Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich, having learned about the approach of the Mongols, left Vladimir, leaving with a small squad in the Trans-Volga region - there, in the middle of windbreaks on the Sit River, he set up camp and expected reinforcements from his brothers - Yaroslav (father of Alexander Nevsky) and Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. There were very few warriors left in the city, led by the sons of Yuri - Vsevolod and Mstislav. Despite this, the Mongols spent 5 days with the city, shelling it with stone throwers, taking it only after the assault on February 7. But before that, a small detachment of nomads led by Subudai managed to burn Suzdal.
After the capture of Vladimir, the Mongol army is divided into three parts. The first and largest part under the command of Batu goes from Vladimir to the northwest through the impenetrable forests of the watershed of the Klyazma and the Volga. The first march is from Vladimir to Yuryev-Polsky (about 60-65 kilometers). Further, the army is divided - part goes exactly to the north-west to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky (about 60 kilometers), and after a five-day siege this city fell. What was Pereyaslavl like then? It was a relatively small city, slightly larger than Moscow, although it had defensive fortifications up to 2.5 kilometers long. But its population also hardly exceeded 1-2 thousand people.
Then the Mongols go to Ksnyatin (about 100 more kilometers), to Kashin (30 kilometers), then turn west and move along the ice of the Volga to Tver (from Ksnyatin in a straight line a little more than 110 kilometers, but they go along the Volga, there it turns out all 250- 300 kilometers).
The second part goes through the dense forests of the watershed of the Volga, Oka and Klyazma from Yuryev-Polsky to Dmitrov (in a straight line about 170 kilometers), then after taking it - to Volok-Lamsky (130-140 kilometers), from there to Tver (about 120 kilometers) , after the capture of Tver - to Torzhok (together with the detachments of the first part) - in a straight line it is about 60 kilometers, but, apparently, they walked along the river, so it will be at least 100 kilometers. The Mongols reached Torzhok already on February 21 - 14 days after leaving Vladimir.
Thus, the first part of the Batu detachment travels at least 500-550 kilometers through dense forests and along the Volga in 15 days. True, from here it is necessary to throw out several days of the siege of cities and it turns out about 10 days of the march. For each of which nomads pass through the forests 50-55 kilometers a day! The second part of his detachment travels a total of less than 600 kilometers, which gives an average daily march rate of up to 40 kilometers. Taking into account a couple of days for the siege of cities - up to 50 kilometers per day.
Under Torzhok, a rather modest city by the standards of that time, the Mongols got stuck for at least 12 days and took it only on March 5 (V.V. Kargalov). After the capture of Torzhok, one of the Mongol detachments advanced another 150 kilometers towards Novgorod, but then turned back.
The second detachment of the Mongolian army under the command of Kadan and Buri left Vladimir to the east, moving along the ice of the Klyazma River. Having traveled 120 kilometers to Starodub, the Mongols burned this city, and then “cut off” the wooded watershed between the lower Oka and the middle Volga, reaching Gorodets (this is still about 170-180 kilometers, if in a straight line). Further, the Mongolian detachments on the ice of the Volga reached Kostoroma (this is about 350-400 kilometers), some detachments even reached Galich Mersky. From Kostroma, the Mongols of Buri and Kadan went to join the third detachment under the command of Burundai to the west - to Uglich. Most likely, the nomads moved on the ice of the rivers (in any case, we recall once again, this is customary in Russian historiography), which gives about 300-330 more kilometers of travel.
In the first days of March, Kadan and Buri were already at Uglich, having covered 1000-1100 kilometers in a little over three weeks. The average daily pace of the march was about 45-50 kilometers among the nomads, which is close to the indicators of the Batu detachment.
The third detachment of the Mongols under the command of Burundai turned out to be the “slowest” - after the capture of Vladimir, he marched on Rostov (170 kilometers in a straight line), then overcame another 100 kilometers to Uglich. Part of Burundai's forces made a march to Yaroslavl (about 70 kilometers) from Uglich. In early March, Burundai unmistakably found the camp of Yuri Vsevolodovich in the Volga forests, which he defeated in the battle on the Sit River on March 4. The passage from Uglich to the City and back is about 130 kilometers. Together, Burundai's detachments traveled about 470 kilometers in 25 days - this gives us only 19 kilometers of the average daily march.
In general, the conditional average Mongolian horse clocked up “on the speedometer” from December 1, 1237 to March 4, 1238 (94 days) from 1200 (the lowest estimate, suitable only for a small part of the Mongolian army) to 1800 kilometers. The conditional daily transition ranges from 12-13 to 20 kilometers. In reality, if we throw out standing in the floodplain of the Oka River (about 15 days), 5 days of storming Moscow and 7 days of rest after its capture, a five-day siege of Vladimir, and also another 6-7 days for the siege of Russian cities in the second half of February, it turns out that Mongolian horses traveled an average of 25-30 kilometers for each of their 55 days of movement. These are excellent results for horses, given that all this happened in the cold, in the middle of forests and snowdrifts, with a clear lack of feed (it is unlikely that the Mongols could requisition a lot of feed for their horses from the peasants, especially since the steppe horses did not eat practically grain) and hard work.
The steppe Mongolian horse has not changed for centuries (Mongolia, 1911)
After the capture of Torzhok, the bulk of the Mongol army concentrated on the upper Volga in the Tver region. Then they moved in the first half of March 1238 on a broad front to the south in the steppe. The left wing, under the command of Kadan and Buri, passed through the forests of the watershed of the Klyazma and the Volga, then went to the upper reaches of the Moskva River and descended along it to the Oka. In a straight line, this is about 400 kilometers, taking into account the average pace of movement of swift nomads, this is about 15-20 days of travel for them. So, apparently, already in the first half of April, this part of the Mongolian army went to the steppes. We have no information about how the melting of snow and ice on the rivers affected the movement of this detachment (the Ipatiev Chronicle only reports that the steppes moved very quickly). There is also no information about what this detachment did the next month after leaving the steppe, it is only known that in May Kadan and Buri came to the rescue of Batu, who by that time was stuck near Kozelsk.
Small Mongolian detachments, probably, as V.V. Kargalov and R.P. Khrapachevsky, remained on the middle Volga, robbing and burning Russian settlements. How they came out in the spring of 1238 in the steppe is not known.
Most of the Mongol army under the command of Batu and Burundai, instead of the shortest path to the steppe, which the detachments of Kadan and Buri took, chose a very intricate route:
More is known about Batu's route - from Torzhok he moved along the Volga and Vazuz (a tributary of the Volga) to the interfluve of the Dnieper, and from there through the Smolensk lands to the Chernigov city of Vshchizh, lying on the banks of the Desna, writes Khrapachevsky. Having made a detour along the upper reaches of the Volga to the west and northwest, the Mongols turned south, and crossing the watersheds, went to the steppes. Probably, some detachments went in the center, through Volok-Lamsky (through the forests). Tentatively, the left edge of Batu covered about 700-800 kilometers during this time, other detachments a little less. By April 1, the Mongols reached Serensk, and Kozelsk (annalistic Kozeleska, to be precise) - April 3-4 (according to other information - already March 25). On average, this gives us about 35-40 more kilometers of a daily march (moreover, the Mongols are no longer on the ice of the rivers, but through dense forests on the watersheds).
Near Kozelsk, where the ice drift on Zhizdra and the melting of snow in its floodplain could already begin, Batu was stuck for almost 2 months (more precisely, for 7 weeks - 49 days - until May 23-25, maybe later, if we count from April 3, and according to Rashid ad-Din - generally for 8 weeks). Why the Mongols needed to besiege an insignificant, even by medieval Russian standards, town, which has no strategic significance, is not entirely clear. For example, the neighboring towns of Krom, Sleep, Mtsensk, Domagoshch, Devyagorsk, Dedoslavl, Kursk, were not even touched by the nomads.
Historians are still arguing on this topic, no sane argument is given. The funniest version was proposed by the folk historian of the "Eurasian persuasion" L.N. Gumilyov, who suggested that the Mongols took revenge on the grandson of the Chernigov prince Mstislav, who ruled in Kozelsk, for the murder of ambassadors on the Kalka River in 1223. It's funny that the Smolensk prince Mstislav Stary was also involved in the murder of the ambassadors. But the Mongols did not touch Smolensk ...
Logically, Batu had to hastily leave for the steppes, since the spring thaw and lack of food threatened him with a complete loss of at least "transport" - that is, horses.
The question of what the horses and the Mongols themselves ate, besieging Kozelsk for almost two months (using standard stone-throwing machines), none of the historians was puzzled. Finally, it is corny hard to believe that a town with a population of several hundred, even a couple of thousand people, a huge army of the Mongols, numbering in the tens of thousands of soldiers, and allegedly having unique siege technologies and equipment, could not take 7 weeks ...
As a result, the Mongols allegedly lost up to 4,000 people near Kozelsk, and only the arrival of the Buri and Kadan detachments in May 1238 saved the situation from the steppes - the town was nevertheless taken and destroyed. For the sake of humor, it is worth saying that the former President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, in honor of the merits of the population of Kozelsk before Russia, awarded the settlement the title of "City of Military Glory". The humor was that archaeologists, for almost 15 years of searching, could not find unequivocal evidence of the existence of Kozelsk destroyed by Batu. About what passions about this boiled in the scientific and bureaucratic community of Kozelsk, you can.
If we sum up the estimated data in the first and very rough approximation, it turns out that from December 1, 1237 to April 3, 1238 (the beginning of the siege of Kozelsk), the conditional Mongolian horse traveled on average from 1700 to 2800 kilometers. In terms of 120 days, this gives an average daily transition ranging from 15 to 23 kilometers. Since the periods of time are known when the Mongols did not move (sieges, etc., and this is about 45 days in total), the framework of their average daily real march spreads from 23 to 38 kilometers per day.
Simply put, this means more than intense workloads for horses. The question of how many of them survived after such transitions in rather harsh climatic conditions and an obvious lack of food is not even discussed by Russian historians. As well as the question of the actual Mongolian losses.
For example, R.P. Khrapachevsky generally believes that for the entire time of the Western campaign of the Mongols in 1235-1242, their losses amounted to only about 15% of their original number, while the historian V.B. Koshcheev counted up to 50 thousand sanitary losses only during the campaign against North-Eastern Rus'. However, all these losses - both in people and horses, the brilliant Mongols quickly made up for at the expense of ... the conquered peoples themselves. Therefore, already in the summer of 1238, Batu’s armies continued the war in the steppes against the Kipchaks, and in 1241, I don’t understand what kind of army invaded Europe at all - so, Thomas of Split reports that it had a huge number of ... Russians, Kipchaks, Bulgars, Mordovians, etc. P. peoples. How many "Mongols" themselves were among them is not really clear.
In 1237, the 75,000-strong army of Batu Khan invaded Russian borders. The hordes of the Mongol-Tatars, the well-armed army of the Khan's empire, the largest in medieval history, came to conquer Rus': to wipe out the rebellious Russian cities and villages from the face of the earth, to impose tribute on the population and to establish the power of their governors, the Baskaks, on the entire expanse of Russian land.
The attack of the Mongol-Tatars on Rus' was sudden, but not only this determined the success of the invasion. For a number of objective reasons, power was on the side of the conquerors, the fate of Rus' was a foregone conclusion, as was the success of the Mongol-Tatar invasion.
Rus' by the beginning of the 13th century is a country torn into small principalities, without a single ruler and army. Behind the Mongol-Tatars, on the contrary, stood a strong and united power, approaching the peak of its power. Only a century and a half later, in 1380, in different political and economic conditions, Rus' was able to put up a strong army against the Golden Horde, led by a single commander - the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich and move from a shameful and unsuccessful defense to active military operations and achieve a devastating victory on the Kulikovo field.
About any unity of the Russian land in 1237-1240. there was no question, the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars showed the weakness of Rus', the invasion of the enemy and the power of the Golden Horde, which had been established for two and a half centuries, the Golden Horde yoke became retribution for internecine enmity and the violation of all-Russian interests by the Russian princes, who were too carried away by the satisfaction of their political ambitions.
The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' was swift and merciless. In December 1237, the Batu army burned Ryazan, and on January 1, 1238, Kolomna fell under the onslaught of the enemy. During January - May 1238, the Mongol-Tatar invasion incinerated the Vladimir, Pereyaslav, Yuryev, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglitsky and Kozelsky principalities. In 1239, it was destroyed by Mur, a year later, residents of cities and villages of the Chernigov Principality faced the misfortune of the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, in September - December 1240, the ancient capital city of Rus' - Kiev was conquered.
After the defeat of North-Eastern and Southern Rus', the countries of Eastern Europe were subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion: Batu's army won a number of major victories in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, but, having lost significant forces on Russian soil, returned to the Volga region, which became the epicenter of the powerful Golden Horde.
With the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars to Rus', the Golden Horde period of Russian history began: the era of the dominion of the eastern despotism, the oppression and ruin of the Russian people, the period of the decline of the Russian economy and culture.
The beginning of the Mongol conquests of the Russian principalities
In the XIII century. the peoples of Rus' had to endure a hard struggle with Tatar-Mongol conquerors who ruled in the Russian lands until the 15th century. (the last century in a milder form). Directly or indirectly, the Mongol invasion contributed to the fall of the political institutions of the Kyiv period and the growth of absolutism.
In the XII century. there was no centralized state in Mongolia; the union of the tribes was achieved at the end of the 12th century. Temuchin, the leader of one of the clans. At a general meeting (“kurultai”) of representatives of all clans in 1206 d. he was proclaimed a great khan with the name Genghis(“Infinite Power”).
As soon as the empire was created, it began its expansion. The organization of the Mongolian army was based on the decimal principle - 10, 100, 1000, etc. The imperial guard was created, which controlled the entire army. Before the advent of firearms Mongolian cavalry took up in the steppe wars. She was better organized and trained than any nomadic army of the past. The reason for success was not only the perfection of the military organization of the Mongols, but also the unpreparedness of rivals.
At the beginning of the 13th century, having conquered part of Siberia, the Mongols in 1215 set about conquering China. They managed to capture the entire northern part of it. From China, the Mongols took out the latest military equipment and specialists for that time. In addition, they received cadres of competent and experienced officials from among the Chinese. In 1219, the troops of Genghis Khan invaded Central Asia. Following Central Asia captured Northern Iran, after which the troops of Genghis Khan made a predatory campaign in Transcaucasia. From the south they came to the Polovtsian steppes and defeated the Polovtsians.
The request of the Polovtsy to help them against a dangerous enemy was accepted by the Russian princes. The battle between the Russian-Polovtsian and Mongol troops took place on May 31, 1223 on the Kalka River in the Azov region. Not all Russian princes, who promised to participate in the battle, put up their troops. The battle ended with the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops, many princes and combatants died.
In 1227, Genghis Khan died. Ogedei, his third son, was elected Great Khan. In 1235, the Kurultai met in the Mongolian capital of Karakorum, where it was decided to begin the conquest of the western lands. This intention posed a terrible threat to the Russian lands. Ogedei's nephew, Batu (Batu), became the head of the new campaign.
In 1236, the troops of Batu began a campaign against the Russian lands. Having defeated the Volga Bulgaria, they set off to conquer the Ryazan principality. The Ryazan princes, their squads and townspeople had to fight the invaders alone. The city was burned and plundered. After the capture of Ryazan, the Mongol troops moved to Kolomna. Many Russian soldiers died in the battle near Kolomna, and the battle itself ended in defeat for them. On February 3, 1238, the Mongols approached Vladimir. Having besieged the city, the invaders sent a detachment to Suzdal, who took it and burned it. The Mongols stopped only in front of Novgorod, turning south due to mudslides.
In 1240 the Mongol offensive resumed. Chernigov and Kyiv were captured and destroyed. From here, the Mongol troops moved into Galicia-Volyn Rus. Having captured Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich in 1241, Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moravia, and then in 1242 reached Croatia and Dalmatia. However, the Mongol troops entered Western Europe significantly weakened by the powerful resistance they met in Rus'. This largely explains the fact that if the Mongols managed to establish their yoke in Rus', then Western Europe experienced only an invasion, and then on a smaller scale. This is the historical role of the heroic resistance of the Russian people to the invasion of the Mongols.
The result of the grandiose campaign of Batu was the conquest of a vast territory - the southern Russian steppes and forests of Northern Rus', the Lower Danube region (Bulgaria and Moldova). The Mongol Empire now included the entire Eurasian continent from the Pacific Ocean to the Balkans.
After the death of Ögedei in 1241, the majority supported the candidacy of Ögedei's son Gayuk. Batu became the head of the strongest regional khanate. He established his capital at Sarai (north of Astrakhan). His power extended to Kazakhstan, Khorezm, Western Siberia, the Volga, the North Caucasus, Rus'. Gradually, the western part of this ulus became known as Golden Horde.
The first armed clash between the Russian squad and the Mongol-Tatar army took place 14 years before the invasion of Batu. In 1223, the Mongol-Tatar army under the command of Subudai-Bagatur went on a campaign against the Polovtsy in the immediate vicinity of the Russian lands. At the request of the Polovtsy, some Russian princes provided military assistance to the Polovtsy.
On May 31, 1223, a battle took place between the Russian-Polovtsian detachments and the Mongol-Tatars on the Kalka River near the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. As a result of this battle, the Russian-Polovtsian militia suffered a crushing defeat from the Mongol-Tatars. The Russian-Polovtsian army suffered heavy losses. Six Russian princes were killed, including Mstislav Udaloy, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan and more than 10 thousand militias.
The main reasons for the defeat of the Russian-half army were:
The unwillingness of the Russian princes to act as a united front against the Mongol-Tatars (most of the Russian princes refused to respond to the request of their neighbors and send troops);
Underestimation of the Mongol-Tatars (the Russian militia was poorly armed and did not properly tune in to the battle);
Inconsistency of actions during the battle (Russian troops were not a single army, but disparate squads of different princes acting in their own way; some squads left the battle and watched from the side).
Having won a victory at Kalka, the army of Subudai-Bagatur did not develop success and left for the steppes.
4. After 13 years, in 1236, the Mongol-Tatar army led by Batu Khan (Batu Khan), the grandson of Genghis Khan and the son of Jochi, invaded the Volga steppes and Volga Bulgaria (the territory of modern Tataria). Having defeated the Polovtsy and the Volga Bulgars, the Mongol-Tatars decided to invade Rus'.
The conquest of Russian lands was carried out during two campaigns:
The campaign of 1237 - 1238, as a result of which the Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities were conquered - the north-east of Rus';
The campaign of 1239 - 1240, as a result of which the Chernigov and Kiev principalities, other principalities of the south of Rus' were conquered. The Russian principalities offered heroic resistance. Among the most important battles of the war with the Mongol-Tatars are:
The defense of Ryazan (1237) - the very first large city attacked by the Mongol-Tatars - almost all the inhabitants participated and died during the defense of the city;
Defense of Vladimir (1238);
Defense of Kozelsk (1238) - the Mongol-Tatars stormed Kozelsk for 7 weeks, for which they called it the "evil city";
Battle on the City River (1238) - the heroic resistance of the Russian militia prevented the further advance of the Mongol-Tatars to the north - to Novgorod;
The defense of Kyiv - the city fought for about a month.
This article is about the Mongol invasions of Rus' in 1237-1240. For the 1223 invasion, see Battle of the Kalka River. For later invasions, see the List of Mongol-Tatar campaigns against Russian principalities.
Mongol invasion of Rus'- invasion of the troops of the Mongol Empire on the territory of the Russian principalities in 1237-1240. during the Western campaign of the Mongols ( Kipchak campaign) 1236-1242 under the leadership of Chingizid Batu and commander Subedei.
background
For the first time, the task of reaching the city of Kyiv was assigned to Subedei by Genghis Khan in 1221: He sent Subetai-Baatur on a campaign to the north, commanding him to reach eleven countries and peoples, such as: Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orosut, Machjarat, Asut, Sasut, Serkesut, Keshimir, Bolar, Raral (Lalat), cross the high-water Idil and Ayakh rivers, as well as reach the city of Kivamen-kermen When the united Russian-Polovtsian army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle on the Kalka River on May 31, 1223, the Mongols invaded the southern Russian border lands (the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary calls this the first Mongol invasion of Russia), but abandoned the plan to march on Kyiv, and then were defeated in the Volga Bulgaria in 1224.
In 1228-1229, having ascended the throne, Ogedei sent a 30,000-strong corps to the west, led by Subedei and Kokoshay, against the Kipchaks and the Volga Bulgars. In connection with these events, in 1229 the name of the Tatars reappears in the Russian chronicles: Bulgarian watchdog came running from the Tatars near the river, her name is Yaik"(and in 1232 Pridosha Tatarov and Zimovasha did not reach the Great City of Bulgaria).
The "Secret Tale" in relation to the period 1228-1229 reports that Ogedei
| He sent Batu, Buri, Munk and many other princes on a campaign to help Subetai, since Subetai-Baatur met strong resistance from those peoples and cities, the conquest of which was entrusted to him under Genghis Khan, namely, the peoples of Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orusut, Asut, Sesut, Machzhar, Keshimir, Sergesut, Bular, Kelet (the Chinese "History of the Mongols" adds non-mi-sy), as well as cities beyond the high-water rivers Adil and Zhaiakh, such as: Meketmen, Kermen-keibe and others... 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 the people who, in rage, take death by throwing themselves on their own swords. Their swords, they say, are sharp. |
However, in 1231-1234, the Mongols waged a second war with the Jin, and the westward movement of the combined forces of all uluses begins immediately after the decision of the kurultai of 1235.
Similarly (30-40 thousand people), Gumilyov L.N. estimates the number of the Mongol army. In modern historical literature, another estimate of the total number of the Mongol army in the western campaign is dominant: 120-140 thousand soldiers, 150 thousand soldiers.
Initially, Ogedei himself planned to lead the Kipchak campaign, but Mönke dissuaded him. In addition to Batu, the following Genghisides participated in the campaign: the sons of Jochi Orda-Ezhen, Shiban, Tangkut and Berke, the grandson of Chagatai Buri and the son of Chagatai Baydar, the sons of Ogedei Guyuk and Kadan, the sons of Tolui Munke and Buchek, the son of Genghis Khan Kulkhan, the grandson of Genghis Khan’s brother Argasun. The importance given by Genghisides to the conquest of the Russians is evidenced by Ogedei's monologue addressed to Guyuk, who was dissatisfied with Batu's leadership.
The Vladimir chronicler reports under the year 1230: “ The same year, the Bolgars bowed to the Grand Duke Yuri, asking for peace for six years, and make peace with them". The desire for peace was supported by deeds: after the conclusion of peace in Rus', famine broke out due to a two-year crop failure, and the Bulgars brought vessels with food to the Russian cities free of charge. Under 1236: " Tatarov came to the Bulgarian land and took the glorious Great City of Bulgaria, slaughtered everyone from old and young to the existing baby and burned their city and the land of all their captivity". Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir received Bulgarian refugees on his land and settled them in Russian cities. The battle on the Kalka River showed that even the defeat of the combined forces in a general battle is a way to undermine the forces of the invaders and force them to abandon plans for a further offensive. But in 1236, Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir with his brother Yaroslav of Novgorod, who had the largest military potential in Rus' (under 1229 in the annals we read: “ and bowed down to Yury all, having a father to himself and a master”), did not send troops to help the Volga Bulgars, but used them to establish control over Kiev, thereby putting an end to the Chernihiv-Smolensk struggle for it and taking over the reins of the traditional Kiev collection, which at the beginning of the 13th century was still recognized by all Russian princes . The political situation in Rus' in the period 1235-1237 was also determined by the victories of Yaroslav Novgorodsky over the Order of the Sword in 1234 and Daniil Romanovich Volynsky over the Teutonic Order in 1237. Lithuania also acted against the Order of the Sword (Battle of Saul in 1236), as a result of which its remnants united with the Teutonic Order.
First stage. North-Eastern Rus' (1237-1239)
Invasion 1237-1238
The fact that the attack of the Mongols on Rus' at the end of 1237 did not come as a surprise is evidenced by the letters of the Hungarian missionary monk, Dominican Julian:
| Many pass it on as true, and the prince of Suzdal conveyed verbally through me to the king of Hungary that the Tatars are conferring day and night on how to come and seize the kingdom of the Christian Hungarians. For they, they say, have an intention to go to the conquest of Rome and beyond ... Now, being on the borders of Rus', we have closely learned the real truth that the entire army going to the countries of the West is divided into four parts. One part near the river Etil (Volga) on the borders of Rus' 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 river Don, near the castle of Oveheruch, also a principality of the Russians. 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 Rus', the whole country of the Russians. |
The Mongols sent the main blow to the Ryazan principality (see Defense of Ryazan). Yuri Vsevolodovich sent a united army to help the Ryazan princes: his eldest son Vsevolod with all people, governor Yeremey Glebovich, retreating from Ryazan forces led by Roman Ingvarevich and Novgorod regiments - but it was too late: Ryazan fell after a 6-day siege on December 21. The sent army managed to give the invaders a fierce battle near Kolomna (on the territory of the Ryazan land), but was defeated.
The Mongols invaded the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Yuri Vsevolodovich retreated to the north and began to gather an army for a new battle with the enemy, waiting for the regiments of his brothers Yaroslav (who was in Kiev) and Svyatoslav (before that, he was last mentioned in the annals under 1229 as a prince sent by Yuri to reign in Pereyaslavl-South) . " Within the land of Suzdal» The Mongols were overtaken by those returning from Chernigov « in a small team"The Ryazan boyar Evpaty Kolovrat, along with the remnants of the Ryazan troops, and thanks to the surprise of the attack, was able to inflict significant losses on them (in some editions of the Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu, it tells about the solemn funeral of Evpaty Kolovrat in the Ryazan Cathedral on January 11, 1238). On January 20, after 5 days of resistance, Moscow fell, which was defended by the youngest son of Yuri Vladimir and the governor Philip Nyanka " with a small army”, Vladimir Yurievich was captured and then killed in front of the walls of Vladimir. Vladimir himself was taken on February 7 after five days of siege (see Defense of Vladimir), the entire family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died in it. In addition to Vladimir, in February 1238, Suzdal, Yuryev-Polsky, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Gorodets, Kostroma, Galich-Mersky, Vologda, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Kashin, Ksnyatin, Dmitrov and Volok Lamsky were taken, the most stubborn resistance except Moscow and Vladimir had Pereyaslavl-Zalessky (taken by the Genghisides together in 5 days), Tver and Torzhok (defense February 22 - March 5), lying on the direct route of the main Mongol forces from Vladimir to Novgorod. In Tver, one of the sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich died, whose name has not been preserved. On the Volga cities, the defenders of which left with their princes Konstantinovich to Yuri on the Sit, the secondary forces of the Mongols, led by the temnik Burundai, fell upon them. On March 4, 1238, they unexpectedly attacked the Russian army (see the Battle on the City River) and were able to defeat it, however, they themselves " suffered a great plague, and their considerable multitude fell". Vsevolod Konstantinovich Yaroslavsky died in the battle together with Yuri, Vasilko Konstantinovich Rostovsky was captured (later killed), Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Vladimir Konstantinovich Uglitsky managed to escape.
Summing up the defeat of Yuri and the ruin of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the first Russian historian Tatishchev V.N. says that the losses of the Mongol troops were many times greater than the losses of the Russians, but the Mongols made up for their losses at the expense of prisoners (prisoners closed their doom), which at that time turned out to be more than the Mongols themselves ( and more than prisoners). In particular, the assault on Vladimir was launched only after one of the Mongol detachments, which had taken Suzdal, returned with many prisoners. However, Eastern sources, which repeatedly mention the use of prisoners during the Mongol conquests in China and Central Asia, do not mention the use of prisoners for military purposes in Rus' and Central Europe.
After the capture of Torzhok on March 5, 1238, the main forces of the Mongols, having joined with the remnants of the Burundai army, before reaching 100 miles to Novgorod, turned back into the steppes (according to different versions, due to spring thaw or due to high losses). On the way back, the Mongol army moved in two groups. The main group passed 30 km east of Smolensk, making a stop in the area of Dolgomostye. The literary source - "The Word about Mercury of Smolensk" - tells about the defeat and flight of the Mongol troops. Then the main group went south, invaded the Chernigov principality and burned Vshchizh, located in close proximity to the central regions of the Chernigov-Seversky principality, but then turned sharply to the northeast and, bypassing the large cities of Bryansk and Karachev, laid siege to Kozelsk. The eastern group led by Kadan and Buri passed by Ryazan in the spring of 1238. The siege of Kozelsk dragged on for 7 weeks. In May 1238, the Mongols united near Kozelsk and took it during a three-day assault, having suffered heavy losses both in equipment and in human resources during the sorties of the besieged.
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich succeeded Vladimir after his brother Yuri, and Mikhail Chernigov occupied Kyiv, thus concentrating in his hands the Principality of Galicia, the Principality of Kiev and the Principality of Chernigov.
Invasions 1238-1239
At the end of 1238 - the beginning of 1239, the Mongols led by Subedei, having suppressed the uprising in the Volga Bulgaria and the Mordovian land, again invaded Rus', devastated the environs of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorokhovets, Gorodets, Murom, and again - Ryazan. On March 3, 1239, a detachment under the command of Berke ravaged Pereyaslavl South.
This period also includes the invasion of the Lithuanians into the Grand Duchy of Smolensk and the campaign of the Galician troops against Lithuania with the participation of 12-year-old Rostislav Mikhailovich (taking advantage of the absence of the main Galician forces, Daniil Romanovich Volynsky captured Galich, finally establishing himself in it). Given the death of the Vladimir army in the City at the beginning of 1238, this campaign played a certain role in the success of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich near Smolensk. In addition, when in the summer of 1240 the Swedish feudal lords, together with the Teutonic knights, launched an offensive against Novgorod land, in the battle on the river. Neve, the son of Yaroslav, Alexander of Novgorod, stops the Swedes with the forces of his squad, and the beginning of successful independent actions of the troops of North-Eastern Rus' after the invasion refers only to the period 1242-1245 (Battle on the Ice and victories over the Lithuanians).
Second stage (1239-1240)
Chernihiv Principality
After the siege that began on October 18, 1239, with the use of powerful siege equipment, Chernigov was taken by the Mongols (the army under the leadership of Prince Mstislav Glebovich unsuccessfully tried to help the city). After the fall of Chernigov, the Mongols did not go north, but engaged in robbery and ruin in the east, along the Desna and the Seim - archaeological research showed that Lyubech (in the north) was not touched, but the towns of the principality bordering on the Polovtsian steppe, such as Putivl, Glukhov, Vyr and Rylsk were destroyed and devastated. At the beginning of 1240, an army led by Munch went to the left bank of the Dnieper opposite Kyiv. An embassy was sent to the city with an offer to surrender, but was destroyed. Prince of Kiev Mikhail Vsevolodovich left for Hungary in order to marry the daughter of King Bela IV Anna to his eldest son Rostislav (the marriage will take place only in 1244 to commemorate the alliance against Daniel of Galicia).
Daniil Galitsky captured in Kiev the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavich, who tried to take the great reign, and planted his thousandth Dmitri in the city, returned to Mikhail his wife (his sister), captured by Yaroslav on the way to Hungary, gave Mikhail Lutsk to feed (with the prospect of returning to Kiev), his ally Izyaslav Vladimirovich Novgorod-Seversky - Kamenets.
Already in the spring of 1240, after the Mongols had devastated the Dnieper left bank, Ogedei decided to recall Munke and Guyuk from the western campaign.
The Laurentian Chronicle notes, under 1241, the murder of the Rylsky prince Mstislav by the Mongols (according to L. Voitovich, the son of Svyatoslav Olgovich Rylsky).
Southwestern Rus'
On September 5, 1240, the Mongol army, led by Batu and other Genghisides, besieged Kiev and only on November 19 (according to other sources, December 6; perhaps it was on December 6 that the last stronghold of the defenders fell - the Church of the Tithes) took it. Daniil Galitsky, who owned Kiev at that time, was in Hungary, trying - like Mikhail Vsevolodovich a year earlier - to enter into a dynastic marriage with the King of Hungary Bela IV, and also unsuccessfully (the marriage of Lev Danilovich and Constance to commemorate the Galician-Hungarian union will take place only in 1247) . The defense of the "mother of Russian cities" was led by a thousand Dmitr. The "Biography of Daniel of Galicia" says about Daniel:
Dmitri was taken prisoner. Ladyzhin and Kamenets were taken. The Mongols failed to take Kremenets. The capture of Vladimir-Volynsky was marked by an important event in intra-Mongolian politics - Guyuk and Munke left Batu for Mongolia. The departure of the Tumens of the most influential (after Batu) Genghisides undoubtedly reduced the strength of the Mongol army. In this regard, the researchers believe that the further movement to the west was undertaken by Batu on his own initiative.
Dmitr advised Batu to leave Galicia and go to the Ugric without cooking:
The main forces of the Mongols, led by Baydar, invaded Poland, the rest, led by Batu, Kadan and Subedei, taking Galich in three days - to Hungary.
The Ipatiev Chronicle under 1241 mentions the princes of Ponysia ( Bolokhov's), who agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols with grain and thereby avoided the ruin of their lands, their campaign, together with Prince Rostislav Mikhailovich, against the city of Bakota and the successful punitive campaign of the Romanovichs; under 1243 - a campaign of two commanders of Batu to Volyn up to the city of Volodava in the middle reaches of the Western Bug.
Historical meaning
As a result of the invasion, about half of the population died. Kyiv, Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan, Tver, Chernigov, and many other cities were destroyed. The exceptions were Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, as well as the cities of Polotsk and Turov-Pinsk principalities. The developed urban culture of Ancient Rus' was destroyed.
For several decades, stone construction practically ceased in Russian cities. Complex crafts, such as the production of glass jewelry, cloisonne enamel, niello, granulation, and polychrome glazed ceramics, have disappeared. “Rus was thrown back several centuries, and in those centuries when the guild industry of the West was moving to the era of primitive accumulation, the Russian handicraft industry had to pass part of the historical path that had been done before Batu for the second time.”
The southern Russian lands lost almost the entire settled population. The surviving population went to the forest northeast, concentrating in the interfluve of the Northern Volga and Oka. Here there were poorer soils and a colder climate than in the southern completely devastated regions of Rus', and trade routes were under the control of the Mongols. In its socio-economic development, Rus' was significantly thrown back.
“Historians of military affairs also note the fact that the process of differentiation of functions between formations of shooters and detachments of heavy cavalry, which specialized in a direct strike with melee weapons, was interrupted in Rus' immediately after the invasion: there was a unification of these functions in the person of one and the same warrior - the feudal lord, forced to shoot from a bow, and fight with a spear and a sword. Thus, the Russian army, even in its elite, purely feudal in composition (princely squads), was thrown back a couple of centuries: progress in military affairs was always accompanied by the division of functions and their assignment to successively emerging military branches, their unification (or rather, reunification) is a clear sign of regression. Be that as it may, the Russian chronicles of the 14th century do not contain even a hint of separate detachments of shooters, like the Genoese crossbowmen, the English archers of the Hundred Years War era. This is understandable: such detachments of “subjective people” cannot be formed, professional shooters were required, that is, people who had come off production and sold their art and blood for hard money; But Rus', thrown back economically, mercenarism was simply not affordable.