Batu's devastation of north-eastern Rus'. Batu's invasion of Rus' (briefly). Consequences of Batu's invasion of Rus'. Battle of Kalka

Genghis Khan died in 1227. During his lifetime, he divided among his sons all the conquered lands and those that still had to be conquered. The eldest son of Jochi inherited an ulus centered on the Yaik River and everything from Yaik to the north, northwest and west: the Urals, Siberia, Volga, Rus', the Dnieper region and the kingdoms of Eastern Europe. However, for such a broad campaign of conquest, the forces of one ulus could not be enough. Jochi died before Genghis Khan, and Genghis Khan's grandson Batu Khan became the head of the ulus.

In 1235, the new great khan Ogedey assembled a kurultai, at which it was decided to strengthen the Jochi ulus to conquer Volga Bulgaria, Desht-Kipchak and Rus'. The main forces of the Mongol army, led by the princes Mengu Khan, Guyuk Khan, Buchen, Kulkan, Monke, Baydara, Tangut and others, came to reinforce Batu. Not trusting the military leadership abilities of the “princes,” Great Khan Ögedei recalled Subedei from China.

So, in 1236, Volga Bulgaria was defeated, its cities were destroyed and countless people were taken away. By spring the campaign was over. In the spring of 1237, Mongol troops under the leadership of Subedei moved to the Caspian steppes and launched a wide raid on the Polovtsians.

The left flank of the raid passed along the shore of the Caspian Sea, along the steppes of the North Caucasus to the mouth of the Don. The right flank cleared the steppe of the Polovtsians. Both flanks connected in the lower reaches of the Don. By the fall of 1237, Mongol troops approached the Russian borders, defeating the Mordovians and other peoples in the southeast of Russian lands. All obstacles to the invasion of Rus' were removed. In the fall, the kurultai gathered, and Batu was placed at the head of the united army.

Usually the invasion of 1237 is called the “invasion of Batu”. This is not accurate. Batu was not only the khan of the Jochi ulus, but also, to some extent, a co-ruler of the khans of Karakorum. Therefore, the entire Mongol-Tatar army moved to Rus', at the head of its tumens were almost all the princes of the blood and the most furious of the “iron dogs” of Genghis Khan, Subedei. The main forces of the Mongol-Tatars concentrated for the invasion on the Voronezh River. Before the invaders, on the way to the center of North-Eastern Rus', lay the Ryazan principality.

Svyatoslav, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, gave rise to the family of princes of Chernigov, after his son Oleg they were called Olgovichi, the youngest Oleg's son Yaroslav became the ancestor of the princes of Ryazan and Murom. Yuri Igorevich, Prince of Ryazan, was appointed to reign by Yuri Vsevolodovich, whom he revered “in the place of his father.” The Ryazan land, the first of the Russian lands, Yuri Igorevich, the first of the Russian princes, had to meet Batu's invasion.

In December 1237, the rivers began to flow. On the Sura, a tributary of the Volga, on Voronezh, a tributary of the Don, Batu’s troops appeared. Winter opened a road on the ice of rivers in the strongholds of North-Eastern Rus'.

Ambassadors from Batu arrived to the Ryazan prince. It’s like a sorceress and two messengers with her. It is difficult to say what this strange embassy meant and what it was authorized to do. Even more provocative were the demands for tithes from everything that the Ryazan land has: tithes from princes, from ordinary people, tithes from white, black, brown, red and piebald horses. It could be said in advance that such demands are unacceptable. Most likely it was reconnaissance.

Yuri Igorevich, together with other princes of the land of Ryazan, replied: “When none of us are left, then everything will be yours.”

The decisive response of the Ryazan prince did not at all mean that he underestimated the danger of the invasion. Kalka was not forgotten; Batu’s campaigns against the Bulgars and Polovtsians were known. Yuri Igorevich hastened to send for help to Vladimir to Yuri Vsevolodovich and to Chernigov to his relatives.

It is very simple to explain everything by feudal fragmentation, inter-princely enmity, princely disagreement. Of course, inter-princely strife was very significant. However, one should not lose sight of the purely military aspects of the problem.

Yuri Vsevolodovich bet on Yuri Igorevich's reign. He should have defended the Ryazan land. How? Where? Is it hasty to transfer the Novgorod and Suzdal regiments to Ryazan along winter routes, shielding it with their backs? Lead princely squads against an unknown and powerful enemy in an open field, far from cities, the walls of which could serve as protection? A proven remedy against Polovtsian raids was to hole up in city fortresses.

The same thoughts could not help but seize the Chernigov prince. There was also the calculation that in winter the mounted army of the Mongol-Tatars would not dare to invade due to lack of food.

Yuri Igorevich, meanwhile, made diplomatic efforts. He sent an embassy led by his son Fyodor with gifts to Batu. The Russian princes had strong confidence, no doubt, that Batu would not dare to storm cities and fortresses.

As strange as the “sorceress’s” embassy was, Batu’s response to Prince Fyodor’s embassy was just as defiantly mocking. The story of the destruction of Ryazan by Batu, written in the 13th century, tells that Batu, having demanded Russian wives and daughters, declared to Fyodor: “Let me, prince, see the beauty of your wife.” The Ryazan ambassador had no choice but to answer: “It is not good for us, Christians, for you, the wicked king, to lead your wives to fornication. If you overcome us, then you will begin to dominate our wives.”

Perhaps this conversation is just a legend, but it conveys the essence of events correctly. Prince Fedor was killed in Batu's camp. The invasion could have begun without these daring verbal disputes, but Batu had to tease the Russian princes, call them out of the cities into an open field.

It has not yet been established: did Yuri Igorevich go out to meet Batu with the Ryazan army or only his guards met the Mongol-Tatars in the field? Chronicle reports are contradictory. There is information that the Ryazan army, led by Yuri Igorevich, came out to meet Batu almost to the Voronezh River. But this contradicts the news that Yuri Igorevich defended the city and was captured in Ryazan. Maybe the preserved names of villages not far from Old Ryazan along the banks of the Pronya, where it flows into the Oka, will help us.

A few kilometers from Old Ryazan up the Oka River, not far from the confluence of the Pronya River, lies the village of Zasechye. Up the Prona is the village of Dobry Sot. Below Zasechye on a high mountain is the village of Ikonino. Village names can sometimes provide unexpected clues to ancient events. Around Old Ryazan, no matter the name of a village or hamlet, everything has a meaning. Below Staraya Ryazan are the villages of Shatrishche and Isady.

Note that local residents usually keep in their memory from generation to generation the ancient traditions of their native places. So, they say that the village was named Zasechye in memory of the battle between Batu and the Ryazan people. Where the Ryazan ambush stood, Good Sot, at Shatrishch, Batu pitched his tents, besieging Ryazan, where the Isads - landed on the shore of the Oka.

But such a direct interpretation is not always accurate. “Zaseki”, “Zasechye” is a common name for places near the Okrug. It was by no means always associated with the place of the battle. The zaseka is a forest obstruction on the path of the Horde cavalry. If we follow Batu’s path from the lower reaches of Voronezh, he will lead us along the rivers to Pronya above Zasechye. Having set foot on the Prony ice, we had to move along the river to Ryazan.

It is likely that the banks of the Oka near the capital city of the Ryazan principality were already cleared of forests. On the right bank, where the city stood, there were arable lands, on the low left bank, on the Prince's Meadow, horses were grazed. And the banks of Pronya, of course, were covered with forest. This forest was “spotted” to block the aliens’ path to Ryazan.

Usually the enemy was met in front of the abatis in order to be able to retreat behind the barrier. Good Sot above Zasechya-Zaseki. This is most likely an indication that Batu was met there by the prince’s equestrian squad. His foot soldiers could stand behind the fence, on the mountain, displaying banners and icons. Hence the name of the village Ikonino and the mountain - Ikoninskaya.

It is very doubtful that the Ryazan prince, without receiving help from Yuri Vsevolodovich, would decide to go to meet the formidable enemy in Voronezh. But, of course, he tried to fight under the city walls. The mouth of Pronya, Ikoninskaya Mountain and the abatis forest are the only possible place for such a battle. Then it is understandable why Yuri Igorevich was able to run with the remnants of his squad to the city after the defeat. For, judging by the time it took Batu to take it, the city was defended not only by peaceful citizens, but also by soldiers.

Here it is appropriate to touch upon the question of the size of the Mongol-Tatar army that invaded Rus' in December 1237. Unfortunately, military historians have not dealt with this issue. We will not find reliable indications in the sources. Russian chronicles are silent, European eyewitnesses and Hungarian chronicles estimate Batu’s army, which took Kyiv and invaded Europe, at more than half a million. In pre-revolutionary historiography, the figure of 300 thousand was completely arbitrarily established.

Discussions about the number of troops that came to Rus' in 1237 were usually based on the mobilization capabilities of Genghis Khan's empire. Neither the time of year, nor the geography of the area, nor the possibility of moving large military masses along winter routes were taken into account. Finally, the real need for forces to defeat North-Eastern Rus' was not taken into account, and the mobilization capabilities of North-Eastern Rus' were not weighed. They usually referred to the fact that the Mongolian horse could get food from under the snow, but at the same time they lost sight of the difference in the snow cover of the steppes in the far south and in the region of Ryazan - Vladimir - Tver and Novgorod. No one paid attention to the problem of managing an army of half a million or several hundred thousand soldiers in the Middle Ages.

It is very easy to show by calculations that during a campaign along winter roads, an army of 300 thousand soldiers should have stretched over hundreds of kilometers. The Mongol-Tatars never went on a campaign without wind-up horses. They didn’t even go “about two horses” like the Russian squads; each warrior had at least three wind-up horses. It was impossible to feed a million horses in winter conditions on the lands of North-Eastern Rus', and half a million - impossible; there was nothing to feed even three hundred thousand horses.

No matter how undemanding we pictured the Mongol warrior on the campaign, it lasted not ten days or even a month, but from December to April, five months. Rural people, accustomed to Polovtsian raids, knew how to hide food. Cities fell to the invaders in flames, not cities, but ashes. You can’t live for six months on a piece of dried meat and mare’s milk, especially since mares don’t get milked in winter.

The question of the possible number of Russian troops that could resist the invasion remained equally unclear. Until M. N. Tikhomirov’s research on Russian cities of the 13th century, the same legendary numbers migrated from one historical monograph to another as when determining the number of Batu’s troops. M. N. Tikhomirov came to the conclusion that cities such as Novgorod, Chernigov, Kyiv, Vladimir-Suzdal and Vladimir-Volynsky had from 20 to 30 thousand inhabitants. This gave them the opportunity, in case of extreme danger, to field from 3 to 5 thousand soldiers. The cities of North-Eastern Rus', such as Rostov, Pereyaslavl, Suzdal, Ryazan, in terms of the number of inhabitants could not be compared with Novgorod and Kiev. According to the calculations of M. N. Tikhomirov, the number of their inhabitants rarely exceeded 1000 people.

There is reason to believe that Batu and his temniks had fairly accurate information about the state of Russian fortresses, the size of the urban population, and the mobilization capabilities of North-Eastern Rus'. 300 thousand soldiers were not required. For the Middle Ages, an army of several tens of thousands of horsemen was a huge force, capable of spreading throughout all the cities of North-Eastern Rus', possessing an undeniable superiority at every point of application of forces.

Based on geographical, demographic and military considerations, it can be assumed that Batu brought from 30 to 40 thousand horsemen to Rus'. This army, and even in the absence of unity of Russian forces, had nothing to oppose.

It is very doubtful that the Ryazan prince Yuri Igorevich with his son Fedor and all his relatives from the Ryazan cities could gather an army of at least five thousand soldiers. With this ratio, neither ambushes nor ambushes could change the outcome of the matter. The only defense for the Russian land was the courage of its soldiers. The resilience of the Ryazan people, their stubborn resistance, their entry into the field, and the defense of the city for seven days must be commended.

The beginning of the campaign was marked by the first failure for Batu. The defeat of all Russian forces in an open field did not take place. The seven-day assault on Ryazan, the losses in manpower should have taken their toll.

With a defiant embassy and the murder of Prince Fyodor, Batu wanted to call not only the Ryazan people into the field, but also the Vladimir prince, hoping in one decisive battle in the field to destroy all Russian troops so that the cities would remain defenseless, for he could not help but be concerned about the loss of manpower during the assault and the delay of the hike.

If we consider the current strategic situation, we will have to admit that if Yuri Vsevolodovich had rushed with the Novgorod regiments, and with him Mikhail of Chernigov to help the Ryazan principality, they would only have played into Batu’s hands. Rus' could have offered real resistance to the Mongol-Tatar army only if it had been a state with a regular army.

On December 16, Batu besieged Ryazan and took it after a fierce six-day attack. This delay made it possible for many Ryazan residents to go beyond the Oka into the Meshchera forests and escape. Batu did not go through the Oka to the Meshchersky forests, nor did he go to Murom. He set out to ravage the cities along Prona. Pronsk was ravaged, and Belogorod, Izheslavl, Borisov-Glebov disappeared forever from then on.

Let's note for the future. One hundred and forty-three years later, going out to meet Mamai, the Great Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (Donskoy) left the Ryazan land, left Ryazan behind him and thereby split the possible alliance of Ryazan with the Horde.

Just as one hundred and forty-three years later, the Ryazan prince Oleg could not leave his city and withdraw his troops to the Oka under the protection of the Moscow fortresses of Kolomna and Serpukhov, so during the Batu invasion Yuri Igorevich could not abandon Ryazan and withdraw his troops to unite with Yuri Vsevolodovich. The Ryazan prince fulfilled his duty as the defender of the Russian land to the best of his ability. He was killed, like many other princes. Surviving were his brother Ingvar Igorevich, who at that time was with Mikhail of Chernigov, and his nephew Oleg Ingvarevich. He was captured during the battle on the outskirts of the city.

Before Batu lay several roads into the depths of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Down the Oka through Murom to Nizhny, from the Oka to Klyazma and to Vladimir. Not far from Ryazan, the river Pra, winding with lake overflows, flowed into the Oka. It originated near Vladimir and flowed through the Meshchera forests. It was possible to climb to Vladimir along the Gus River. At the beginning of the 13th century, these were deserted, sparsely populated places. If Batu had limited his goals to a predatory raid, these paths might have made sense. But his task was to conquer all of Rus', to capture all Russian lands in one winter. Proy and Goose, the Mongol-Tatar army would have reached Vladimir much faster than along the Oka through Kolomna and Moscow. But Batu remained true to his strategic plan: to fight Rus' not in fortresses, but in the open field.

The name “Moscow” first appeared in chronicles when Yuri Dolgoruky entered into an alliance with Svyatoslav Olgovich of Chernigov. Moscow was a meeting place for the allied princes and their squads. Moscow was not chosen for this meeting on a whim. The Desna and Oka, with their upper reaches, have long connected Chernigov and the southern lands with the northeast. From the Oka there is a direct route to Moscow and by water - along the rivers Protva, Nara and by land - through Mozhaisk. Batu could have expected a connection between the troops of the Vladimir prince and the Chernigov prince precisely on the Oka River in Kolomna or near Moscow. The delay near Ryazan and the meeting only with the Ryazan regiments did not suit Batu, who was in a hurry for a decisive battle. Not to interfere with the union of the Chernigov and Vladimir squads, he went to Kolomna, but looked for united opponents in order to finish them off in the field at once, in order to take the cities unprotected.

Yuri Vsevolodovich was not benefited by the lesson taught on the Lipitsa River by Mstislav the Udaly. Apparently, the prince still had the conviction that “it never happened, neither under his great-grandfathers, nor under his uncle, nor under his father, that anyone would enter an army into the strong land of Suzdal and come out of it intact.” Having no news from the Chernigov prince, or rather, knowing that he is in no hurry to help North-Eastern Rus', Yuri Vsevolodovich makes a gross tactical mistake: he sends his regiments to Kolomna, to meet Batu, and waits for the outcome of the battle in Vladimir. It's like he's playing giveaway.

It was a typical overestimation of one's strength. It never occurred to the most powerful Russian prince to save his manpower, to use his army to protect cities, to deliver sudden attacks like the Ryazan boyar and knight Evpatiy Kolovrat, avoiding battles and battles in the open field.

We have the right to consider the 13th century military tale about Evpatiy Kolovrat one of the most remarkable literary monuments of the entire Russian and European Middle Ages. Not one of the songs of the troubadours, not one of the romances of chivalry, not one of the legends rises to the pathos of this legend.

Evpatiy Kolovrat left Ryazan with the embassy of Ingvar Igorevich to Chernigov to ask for help against the Mongol-Tatars. Prince Ingvar Igorevich stayed in Chernigov, Evpatiy Kolovrat returned with a “small squad” to Ryazan to the smoking ashes. From across the Oka, from Meshchera, from those places where they escaped from Batu (now there is the city of Spassk-Ryazansky), artisans, farmers, and warriors who managed to avoid captivity in the battle of Zasechye on Prona returned to their native ashes. Evpatiy shouted a cry: who is ready to strike at the adversaries, to avenge the murdered and torn to pieces of their wives and children? A squad of about one and a half thousand people gathered. They caught the horses that had been loosed from the princely stables and chased after Batu’s army.

Meanwhile, near Kolomna, where Vsevolod, the son of Yuri Vsevolodovich, came out to meet Batu, what was supposed to happen to the Suzdal regiments happened. In a brutal battle, the Vladimir-Suzdal army was defeated, the Ryazan prince Roman Ingvarevich and the Vladimir governor Eremey were killed. At this time, Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich with his son Konstantin left Vladimir and set up a camp on the City River between Uglich and Bezhetsk, gathered regiments there from the northern outskirts and waited for the approach of the brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav with the Novgorodians and Pskovians.

One tactical mistake gave rise to another. Having divided his forces by sending regiments to Kolomna, Yuri Vsevolodovich took the princely squad to Sit, leaving only a small army in the city, as Batu needed.

Having defeated the Vladimir-Suzdal regiments near Kolomna, Batu came to Moscow, took and burned the city, killed the inhabitants, and captured Vladimir Yuryevich, the son of the Grand Duke. On February 3, the vanguard of the conquerors approached Vladimir.

It is not known for certain when the Batu tumens felt the blows of Evpatiy Kolovrat. The legend transfers the action of his squad to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. This can be believed, because there is no information that before the Battle of Kolomna anyone bothered Batu. In “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” it is said: “And a small squad gathered together - one thousand seven hundred people, whom God preserved, being outside the city. And they chased after the godless king and barely drove him into the lands of Suzdalstei. And suddenly they attacked Batu’s camps and started slaughter without mercy. And all the Tatar regiments were in confusion..."

A military tale is a literary work, but it, like “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” like epics and folk tales, can serve as a source for historiography. Ancient authors are laconic. Two words “suddenly attacked” are enough to logically figure out what happened.

We now call this guerrilla warfare; in the time of Alexander the Great, such tactics were called “Scythian warfare.” Batu's actions show that he was very concerned about the attacks of the Ryazan knight. After all, it was precisely such tactics that could only upset his army, united by iron discipline. Trained to fight in the steppes, in open places, it could not fight as skillfully in forest strongholds.

The Mongol-Tatar raid on the squad of Evpatiy Kolovrat began. An entire tumen (up to 10 thousand horsemen) was allocated against him under the leadership of Khostovrul, Batu’s closest relative.

Batu’s troops approached Vladimir on February 3, and on the 7th, the capital of North-Eastern Rus', the family nest of Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod Yuryevich, the most powerful Russian princes, fell. On those same days, Suzdal was destroyed. There was no one to defend the cities; in solving strategic and tactical problems, Batu outplayed Yuri Vsevolodovich.

It was not so easy to deal with Evpatiy Kolovrat’s squad. With his raids on Batu’s army, he inflicted heavy losses on the newcomers. In the duel he defeated Khostovrul himself. Batu’s warriors were unable to defeat Evpatiy with conventional weapons; they deployed throwing weapons against him and threw stones at him.

After the capture of Vladimir, Batu divided his army and began to destroy defenseless cities, without worrying at all about collecting the militia for the City. This was only to his advantage. Batu was waiting for the Novgorod regiments to arrive at Sit. Not wait. It was impossible to delay any further.

On March 4, 1238, Batu’s troops came to Sit and defeated the militia of Yuri Vsevolodovich. The Grand Duke of Vladimir was killed. Batu rushed to Novgorod. And here is the first sign that his plan to defeat all Russian forces in an open field did not take place. Torzhok, without giving warriors to Yuri Vsevolodovich, held out for two weeks. The city was taken only on March 23. From Torzhok they moved along the Seliger route to Novgorod, but, not reaching a hundred miles, from Ignach-Cross they turned south and went to Kozelsk.

The outstanding Russian historian S. M. Solovyov wrote:

“Not having reached a hundred miles to Novgorod, they stopped, fearing, according to some news, the approach of spring, the flooding of rivers, the melting of swamps, and went to the southeast, to the steppe.”

This is how it became customary in historiography to explain the turn away from Novgorod. However, the campaign against Kozelsk also threatened with the same spring troubles. Even big ones. In Kozelsk and on the way to it, the snow begins to melt two weeks earlier than near Novgorod.

In this regard, it is interesting to look into the climate research of Ancient Rus', carried out by Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences E. P. Borisenkov and Doctor of Historical Sciences V. M. Pasetsky, who in their book “Extreme Natural Phenomena in Russian Chronicles of the 11th–17th Centuries” give certificate: “Winter 1237/38 - with severe frosts. People captured by the Tatars, “from Mriza Izomrosha.”

Under the year 1238 we read from them: “Late, protracted spring. After the capture of Torzhok, the Mongol-Tatar troops of Batu moved towards Novgorod, not suffering hardships from extreme frosts, snowstorms, or flooding. Not reaching 100 versts to Novgorod, “they are atheists, maddened by the Ignac of the Cross.” The spring was low in water, and Batu’s troops were not affected by the flood when retreating to the south.” These reports are confirmed by data on frosty winters in Western Europe.

What stopped Batu near Novgorod, what significance did this city have in his strategic plan?

First of all, you should pay attention to the geography of Batu’s campaigns in 1236–1238. Volga Bulgaria, Vladimir, Volga cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Torzhok and Ignach-Krest. The whole logic of Batu’s campaigns led to Novgorod. Ulus Jochi moved to the Lower Volga region and intercepted the Volga trade route. Dominion over this world trade artery promoted the ulus of Jochi and the Volga Horde to first place in the empire of Genghis Khan. But the Lower Volga region does not mean complete dominance over the trade route. Batu crushes the Bulgars, conquers Vladimir and the Russian Volga cities, the key junction of this entire path - Novgorod - remains untouched. What considerations could stop the predatory invasion at the gates of the richest city in North-Eastern Rus'?

Should we not assume that the leaders of the invasion had contradictions, that the allied princes were eager to plunder northern Venice, and Batu, taking care of the Jochi ulus, did not want the destruction of this most important trading hub, now completely captured by the Volga route?

Did Batu's views on Rus' change during his campaign? Could he, after the destruction of more than 14 cities, consider Rus' destroyed and incapable of revival? Did you consider your victory complete, as planned?

Capturing the states of Central Asia and the Far East, the conquerors settled on their lands. Having passed through the entire North-Eastern Rus' with forest support, didn’t Batu see that this land was unsuitable for the life of nomads, that they did not need it as a territory for settlement? During the campaign, does Batu have a plan to draw from here, as from an inexhaustible source, funds for the Horde, not through robbery alone, but through a clearly organized collection of tribute?

Even if such thoughts arose from the ruler of the Dzhuchiev ulus, we still must admit that these goals would not be hindered in the least by the capture of Novgorod. The idea that the ruin of Novgorod will lead to the attenuation of the Volga trade route is too subtle for Batu and the ulus politicians, and is also very controversial. Goods from Western Europe will flow to where they will be paid for; those who robbed all of Central Asia and took possession of Baghdad gold and Russian silver had something to pay.

No, it was not distant plans that turned Batu away from the Ignach Cross, nor the fear of mud, although this is a real difficulty for the campaign.

The campaign did not meet the deadlines - that's one thing. The plan to defeat the united forces of North-Eastern Rus' in an open field in one or two large battles, using their numerical and tactical superiority, collapsed.

I had to spend a week in Ryazan. The mistakes of Yuri Vsevolodovich greatly helped to capture the cities of the Vladimir-Suzdal reign, but the very first entry into the Novgorod land was filled with the threat of defeat. The Novgorod regiments, Novgorod warriors, wielding heavy weapons and dressed in strong armor, did not come to the City, they remained to defend the city. Three days for Vladimir, two weeks for Torzhok, and how long will it take to fight for Novgorod? There would be no need to retreat in shame.

Turning away from Novgorod, Batu’s troops went steeply to the south. We bypassed Smolensk and went to Kozelsk.

Kozelsk was stormed for seven weeks, forty-nine days, because the military men of Kozelsk remained in the city and were not in the field. It is as if Batu lost about 4 thousand soldiers near Kozelsk and ordered it to be called the “Evil City” from then on.

Igor Borisovich Grekov, Fedor Fedorovich Shakhmagonov. “The world of history: Russian lands in the XIII–XV centuries.” M: “Young Guard”, 1986 (Publication according to the text

From Ryazan, Batu’s army moved up the Oka River and approached Kolomna, and there the Tatars were awaited by the squads of Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich and the remnants of the Ryazan squad led by Prince Roman Ingvarevich. I note that the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich himself did not go with the army, but sent his eldest son Vsevolod with the governor Eremey. The Tatars surrounded the Russians. Roman Ingvarevich and governor Eremey with most of the army were killed in the battle. Yuri Vsevolodovich managed to escape to his father in Vladimir. Kolomna was taken by the Tatars and plundered.

From Kolomna, the troops of Tsarevich Guyuk approached the city of Moscow along the ice of the Moscow River. The capture of Moscow is described briefly and unclearly in Russian sources. In any case, the wooden Kremlin was taken by storm. Voivode Philip Nyanka (Nyanko) was killed, and the young prince Vladimir Yuryevich (the third son of Yuri Vsevolodovich) was captured. Tsarevich Guyuk took with him the captive Vladimir Yuryevich and the head of Philip Nyanka, who had fallen in battle, and went to the city of Vladimir.

On February 3, 1238, the main forces of the Tatars, led by Batu, approached Vladimir. Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich fled from the capital. In Vladimir, he left his wife Agafya and two eldest sons - Vsevolod and Mstislav - with the governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich and part of the squad.

Yuri with the main army moved to the northwest and, having crossed the Volga near Uglich, set up his camp on the Sit River, about 30 km west of the Volga. Together with the Grand Duke were his three nephews - the sons of Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich Vasilko, Vsevolod and Vladimir. Having called upon his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav, Yuri Vsevolodovich, obviously, was going to take up defensive positions with the participation of all available squads of the Suzdal land and using the Volga and Mologa rivers as natural defensive lines from the east and north.

As the Tver Chronicle says: “The lawless Tatars came to Vladimir... They brought Vladimir Yuryevich with them to the Golden Gate, asking: “Do you recognize your prince?” His brothers, governor Oslyadyukovich and all the people shed copious tears, seeing the bitter torment of the prince. The Tatars moved away from the city gates, drove around the city, and then set up camp at a visible distance in front of the Golden Gate. Vsevolod and Mstislav Yuryevich wanted to leave the city against the Tatars, but Peter the Voivode forbade them to fight, saying: “There is no courage, no reason, no strength against God’s punishment for our sins.”

While part of the Tatar army surrounded Vladimir with a palisade and prepared siege engines, the rest of the army made a lightning raid on Suzdal on February 5 and burned the city on the same day.

The assault on Vladimir began on the morning of February 7. As the same Tver Chronicle says: “In the morning, princes Vsevolod and Mstislav and Bishop Mitrofan saw that the city would be taken, and, not hoping for anyone’s help, they all entered the Church of the Holy Mother of God and began to repent of their sins. And those of them who wanted to accept the schema, Bishop Mitrofan tonsured them all: the princes, and Princess Yuri, and his daughter, and daughter-in-law, and pious men and women. And the Tatars began to prepare vices, and approached the city, and broke through the city wall, and filled the ditch with broken branches, and so, according to a sign, they entered the city; So from Lybid they entered the Irinin Gate, and from Klyazma into the Copper and Volga Gates, and so they took the city and set it on fire. The princes, and the bishop, and the princesses saw that the city was set on fire and people were dying in the fire, and others were being cut down with swords, and the princes fled to the Middle City. And the bishop, and the princess with her daughters-in-law, and with her daughter, Princess Theodora, and with her grandchildren, other princesses, and boyars, and many people ran into the Church of the Holy Mother of God and locked themselves in the choir. And the Tatars took the Middle City, and knocked down the doors of the church, and collected a lot of wood, surrounded the church with wood and set it on fire. And all those who were there suffocated, and so gave up their souls into the hands of the Lord; and the Tatars chopped up other princes and people.”

It should be noted that three sons of Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich died during the siege. Vladimir Vsevolod and Mstislav are now considered local saints of the city of Vladimir.

It is quite difficult to understand the subsequent actions of the Tatars from Russian chronicles. Thus, the Laurentian Chronicle says that in February 1238 six large cities of the Suzdal land were captured, after which on March 4 the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated on the Sit River. The Novgorod First Chronicle already lists eight cities of the Suzdal land (and only two of them coincide with those listed in the Laurentian Chronicle) and reports that they were taken after the Battle of the City. Nikon Chronicle of the 16th century. adds two more cities to the previously mentioned cities. No details of the capture of any of the fourteen cities named in various sources are given in the chronicles. The story of the capture and plunder of Suzdal, to which more space is devoted than to all others, consists of fragments borrowed by chroniclers from early texts. For example, from the description of the sack of Kyiv by the Polovtsians in 1203, and this description can hardly be trusted. There was no place even for the story of the destruction of Rostov, whose own chronicle was later included in the chronicle of Vladimir (that is, in the Laurentian chronicle). It seems that the chroniclers of Vladimir and Novgorod simply listed the main cities of the Suzdal land without any idea of ​​which of these cities the Tatars attacked, which they plundered, and which they bypassed.

L.N. Gumilyov states: “Residents of the rich commercial Uglich, for example, quickly found a common language with the Mongols. By handing over horses and provisions, the Uglich residents saved their city; Later, almost all Volga cities did the same. Moreover, there were Russians joining the ranks of the Mongol troops. The Hungarian chronicler called them “the worst Christians.”

Z.Z. Miftakhov believes that “Kostroma, Tver, Yaroslavl survived - all the cities along the Volga survived precisely because they made peace with the Tatars and Mongols.”

In my opinion, the question of Kostroma should be considered open, but Tver was destroyed by the Tatars, and in 1240 Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich actually founded a new city on the left bank of the Volga at the mouth of the Tvertsa River. And old Tver was one and a half kilometers away on the right bank of the Volga at the confluence of the Tmaka River.

It should be noted here that after the capture of Vladimir the Tatars did not move as a single army, but in separate strike groups. Miftakhov brings some clarity. He claims that together with Batu’s army, from 11 to 12 thousand Bulgarian troops moved under the command of Emir Gazi Baraj. A separate Bulgar detachment of Boyan, the son of the Bulgar king Altynbek, acted in the north in isolation from the Tatar forces. Boyan managed to capture the city of Ustyug. The former Nizhny Novgorod monk As-Azim, who served for some time as a priest in the city of Bilyar and was sent by Gazi Baraj on a campaign together with Boyan, persuaded the local governor to surrender the city without bloodshed.

After the capture of Ryazan by the Tatars, the army of Emir Gazi Baraj moved to Nizhny Novgorod. By the time the Bulgar troops arrived, the prince was not in the city, and the Nizhny Novgorod boyars themselves opened the gates to Gazi Baraj, whom they knew well. Miftakhov claims that about 4 thousand Russian foot soldiers from Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov joined the emir’s army.

By the beginning of March 1238, squads of several princes of North-Eastern Rus', led by Yuri Vsevolodovich, gathered on the Sit River. Among them was his brother, Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl, and three nephews - Vasilko, Vsevolod and Vladimir Konstantinovich. Not a single prince ever wanted to join the Grand Duke of Vladimir.

The chronicle says: Yuri was “waiting for his brother Yaroslav and his regiment to come to him.” But, alas, the squad of the Grand Duke of Kyiv never came to the Sit River.

Yuri Vsevolodovich turned out to be an extremely mediocre commander. It is quite possible that he and his entourage were attacked by panic fear of the Tatars. He did not even bother to organize reconnaissance and surveillance of the Tatar army. As a result, the Russian squads were suddenly surrounded by the Tatars. On March 4, during a brutal battle, the Russians were completely defeated, and princes Yuri Vsevolodovich and Vsevolod Konstantinovich fell in battle. As the Tver Chronicle says: “And the Tatars captured Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov and took him to the Shernsky forest, forcing him to live according to their custom and fight on their side. But he did not submit to them and did not accept food from their hands, but uttered many blasphemous words against their king and all of them. They, cruelly torturing him, killed him on the fourth of March, in the middle of Lent, and threw his body in the forest.” Later, princes Yuri Vsevolodovich and Vasilko of Rostov were canonized.

The battle took place between the modern villages of Ignatovo and Revyakino Gorodishche, Yaroslavl region, approximately 16 km above the confluence of the Sit River into the Rybinsk Reservoir. Archaeologist N.P. Sabaneev discovered the graves of fallen soldiers in this area. Alas, the ungrateful descendants did not bother to erect not only a monument, but even any sign indicating the place of the battle.

It is curious that Miftakhov claims that the Tatar-Mongols did not have to participate in the battle of the City, but the Bulgars and 4 thousand Russian infantry from Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov fought with the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich. The Grand Duke of Vladimir himself did not take part in the battle. “Back in 1229 he was “wounded in the backside, which is why he could not ride a horse from then on” [ Ghazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi-Baraj. 1229–1246. Bakhshi Iman. Collection of Bulgarian chronicles. Volume one, Orenburg, 1993. P. 165]. Therefore, Yuri Vsevolodovich left the battlefield not on horseback, but on a cart. He ran away on the road to Novgorod. However, it was not possible to drive far: he was ambushed by Kul Burat. The security detachment was quickly destroyed by Bulgar archers. The Grand Duke jumped off the cart and ran towards the forest, but got stuck in deep snow. The son of the late Tarkhan Bachman, Naryk, ran up to him and cut off his head. Then Naryk planted his head on the staff of his battle banner and sent him to Emir Gazi Baraj.”

Miftakhov also gives a completely different version of the death of Prince Vasilko Konstantinovich, whom he, however, mistakenly calls the Ryazan prince. “A few days after this [Battle of the City River. – A.Sh.] an unexpected event occurred. On the Novgorod road, two horse patrols met: the patrol of Kul Burat and the patrol of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. This meeting was preceded by the following events.

Before leaving the city of Vladimir and his family to the mercy of fate, the Grand Duke sent the state treasury to Novgorod on 50 carts. The convoy was accompanied by the Grand Duke's younger brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the Ryazan prince Vasilko Konstantinovich and his son Boris. When the equestrian patrol of Prince Yaroslav collided with the patrol of the Kul Burat detachment, the convoy turned south. However, it was not possible to save the state treasury: unexpectedly the convoy came across a patrol of Guyuk’s detachment. The meeting was so unexpected that confusion arose. Boris, who was riding at the end of the convoy, took advantage of this. He managed to turn around ten carts and quietly leave the meeting place. Boris arrived at the location of the Kul Burat detachment and was escorted to Gazi Baraj. [ Ghazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi-Baraj. T. 1. P. 178–179].

According to the testimony of Gazi Baraj, a participant in these events, Prince Yaroslav handed over 40 carts with treasury valuables to Guyuk and at the same time reported that Prince Vasilko Konstantinovich sent his son Boris with 10 carts to Gazi Baraj [ Ghazi Baraj

Historian S.M. Soloviev wrote that “the Tatars really wanted Vasilko to accept their customs and fight with them; but the Rostov prince did not eat or drink, so as not to be defiled by the food of the filthy” [ Soloviev S.M. On the history of Ancient Russia, M., 1992. P. 159]. According to Gazi Baraj, it was not a matter of “food for the filthy,” but that Prince Yaroslav “slandered poor Vasyl, telling Guyuk that he deliberately sent his son to me with ten carts out of fifty. It was a lie. But in vain Vasyl said that he knew nothing about the contents of the carts and did not persuade Borys to escape. Guyuk tortured him with terrible tortures and, not forcing the bek to slander his son and me, killed him in a rage” [ Ghazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi-Baraj. T. 1. P. 179].

Disputes and discord over ten carts led to a deterioration in relations between Ghazi Baraj and the princes Guyuk and Batu. Guyuk categorically demanded that the Emir hand over Boris (Borys in Bulgarian). By that time, Gazi Baraj had already sent Boris, under the protection of Naryk’s detachment, to Volga Bulgaria. Gazi Baraj was saved from trouble only by the intercession of Prince Munke and commander Subetai. Subetai told the princes that they should not waste time on disputes and discord, but that it was necessary to “quickly carry out the decree of the Great Khan” [ Ghazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi-Baraj. T. 1. P. 179]. Only after this did they begin to prepare to continue the campaign.”

There are several errors in Miftakhov's version and, accordingly, in the Bulgarian chronicle. The younger brother of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, was far away - in Kyiv or in the Kyiv region. Gazi apparently confused him with Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the sixth son of Vsevolod Yuryevich Big Nest. Vasilko Konstantinovich, the Galician prince, really had a son, Boris, but he was only 7 years old at that time. Otherwise, the Bulgarian version is very similar to the truth.

While part of the Tatar (Bulgar) troops marched to the Sit River, another part besieged the city of Torzhok. There was neither a prince nor a princely squad in Torzhok, and the defense was led by “Ivanko mayor of Novotorzhsky, Yakim Vlunkovich, Gleb Borisovich, Mikhailo Moiseevich,” that is, the top of the merchant townspeople. Residents of Torzhok turned in advance for help to Lord Veliky Novgorod, who periodically was the overlord of Torzhok. I note that in Novgorod in 1237–1238. the prince was young Alexander Yaroslavich, the future Nevsky. The Novgorod authorities and Alexander could, together or separately (in this matter they were independent of each other), provide assistance to Torzhok, but they did not lift a finger.

As the Tver Chronicle says, the Tatars surrounded the entire city with a tyn, “just like they took other cities, and besieged the accursed city for two weeks. The people in the city were exhausted, and there was no help for them from Novgorod, because everyone was bewildered and in fear. And so the filthy ones took the city, killing everyone - both men and women, all the priests and monks. Everything was plundered and desecrated, and in a bitter and unhappy death they gave up their souls into the hands of the Lord of the month of March on the fifth day, in memory of Saint Conon, on Wednesday of the fourth week of Lent. And they were killed here: Ivanko, mayor of Novotorzh, Akim Vlunkovich, Gleb Borisovich, Mikhail Moiseevich. And the godless Tatars chased the rest of the people along the Seliger road to the Ignatiev Cross and whipped all the people like grass, and did not reach Novgorod only a hundred miles. Novgorod was preserved by God, and the holy and great cathedral and apostolic church of Sophia, and the holy Venerable Cyril, and the prayers of the holy orthodox archbishops, and the noble princes, and the reverend monks of the priestly rank.”

It’s funny that now supporters of the “heavenly version” have reappeared. So, Yu.V. Krivosheev writes: “...the intervention of divine forces (the Creator himself, St. Sophia, Cyril and other saints of the Orthodox Church) testifies to some reasons unknown to these forces themselves of divine origin for the non-appearance of the Mongols under the walls of the Volkhov capital.”

I will leave this passage without comment, I will only note that Krivosheev’s work was edited by a professor and reviewed by two more professors, and in general it was published by resolution of the Editorial Council of St. Petersburg University.

And more pragmatically minded historians have been arguing for 200 years who, besides the forces of heaven, saved Novgorod. So, S.M. Soloviev writes that the Tatars, “not reaching a hundred miles to Novgorod, stopped, fearing, according to some news, the approach of spring, river floods, and the melting of swamps, and went to the southeast to the steppe.” And this cautious phrase soon turned into a canonical version and entered our school textbooks. Someone says that in battles with the Russians the Tatars were drained of blood and were afraid to go to Novgorod.

Historian V.V. Kargalov claims that the Tatars did not intend to take Novgorod at all, and only a small Tatar detachment, pursuing the fugitives from Torzhok, reached the Ignatiev Cross.

The Bulgarian chronicles give a very clear and unambiguous explanation. The fact is that at the end of 1237 a letter with the seal of the Great Khan was sent to Novgorod with a promise not to destroy the city if the Novgorodians did not help the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, the city and church authorities (three independent forces of Novgorod) agreed and indeed maintained strict neutrality while the Tatars destroyed the northeastern Russian lands.

Whether we like it or not, sooner or later we will have to admit that part of the Russian princes and cities entered into a voluntary-forced alliance with the Tatars. The detachments of Russian soldiers who joined Batu Khan’s army were relatively small, but it was the Russian collaborators who fed Batu’s horde.

To those who have doubts, I suggest remembering the fate of the armies of Charles XII in 1709 and Napoleon in 1812. Charles XII was several miles from Smolensk, but did not go to Moscow - the goal of his campaign, but turned south, solely due to the lack of food, which Hetman Mazepa promised him. And the Great Army in 1812 died mainly from hunger.

For some reason, our historians are not at all interested in the problem of supplying the huge Tatar army in the winter of 1237/38. Well, even if the Tatars and their allies were not 500 thousand, but only 150 thousand. What did they eat? What did their horses eat? Just don’t need fairy tales about Tatar horses getting their own food with their hooves in the February cold from under a two-meter snowdrift somewhere near Kostroma or Ustyug.

There is a version that Tatar foragers of 10–20 people each traveled around the villages and took food from the peasants. This method of obtaining food by the Tatars undoubtedly took place, but it did not provide even a tenth of the total volume of provisions and fodder needed by the Horde. Rhetorical question: what did the peasants do when the Tatars approached? There were only two options. The first is to go to the city under siege, having previously hidden everything that cannot be taken with you. Option two is to go to the forests or to remote forest villages, including to the north. Again, food was carried away, hidden or destroyed.

It was also not difficult to destroy a dozen or two Tatars. It was enough for a local tiun or even a priest to gather fifty armed peasants and set up an ambush on a forest road. Let's remember 1812, but the Tatars did not have firearms.

But the chronicles are silent about peasants hunting Tatars, as well as about the raids of small detachments of Tatars on villages. And how do the Tatars know all the local paths?

The bulk of food and fodder was delivered by cities and princes who expressed their submission.

A special conversation about “mysterious wanderers”. That's what Academician Mavrodin called them. The first mention of the Brodniks dates back to 1147, when they, together with the Polovtsians, came to the aid of Svyatoslav Olgovich in another princely strife. “Brodniks are Turkic nomads. This is evidenced, firstly, by the fact that they are Christians (their governor kisses the cross during the siege of their camp near Kalika by the Tatars), and secondly, the name of their governor is Ploskinia, which sounds Russian.” Further, Mavrodin writes: “The Brodniki were a mixed population of the Black Sea steppes, occupying almost the entire huge region from the Azov region and Tmutarakan to the Bug region, where this kind of people already had a different name - Berladniki, Vygontsy, etc. There were not so few Brodniks, for otherwise there is nothing to explain the fame of the wanderers in neighboring lands and, in particular, in Hungary, reflected in the documents.”

The Brodniki in their lands did not recognize the authority of either the Rurik princes or the Polovtsian khans.

“The wandering lifestyle associated with their semi-subsistence economy made them extremely mobile, and the military nature of the wanderer communities led to the appearance of wanderers as, apparently, mercenaries in the ranks of the troops of neighboring states. Brodniks were among the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Russian princes as mercenaries until the 13th century.”

In 1236–1241 Hundreds, and most likely thousands of wanderers joined the army of Batu Khan.

The transitional element between the Brodniks and the Russian principalities were the so-called Bolokhov principalities. Our historians do not even have a single point of view on where the Bolokhov principalities were located. Some place them in Podolia, while others place them in the south of Chernigov land. These territories were ruled not by the Rurik princes, but by some Bolokhov princes unknown to historians, who were most likely elected by the veche.

Some of the Bolokhov princes fled to the west when the Tatars approached. But the other part, along with the majority of the population, expressed submission to the Tatars. The Bolokhov principalities were spared, but were obliged to supply requisitions in kind - grain and livestock.

There is no exact information about the movement of the Tatar army back to the steppe either in Russian or in eastern chronicles. In my opinion, the most reliable is the path indicated in the “Atlas of the History of the Middle Ages” edited by Academician E.A. Kosminsky, (Moscow, 1955, p. 24). Apparently, the center of the army really went along the line Vyazma - Kozelsk, while it is not clear whether Vyazma was devastated or surrendered to the mercy of the victors.

Some right-flank detachment of Tatars approached Smolensk and stood 25 versts from it on Dolgomostye. Further events are known only from the life of the holy martyr Mercury of Smolensk. At night, a princely warrior named Mercury had a vision of the Mother of God, who commanded him to attack the Tatars alone. That same night, Mercury mounted a horse and went to the Tatar camp in Dolgomostye. Unnoticed by anyone, he passed the guard and saw a giant among the enemy camp. Fencing himself with the sign of the cross, Mercury exclaimed: “Most Holy Theotokos, help me!” - and killed the proud and arrogant giant, and then destroyed many more enemies. The son of the murdered Tatar giant, wanting to avenge his father’s death, attacked Mercury from behind and dealt him a fatal blow. But suddenly an incomprehensible horror seized the enemies, and, throwing away their weapons, they fled from the city, driven by an unknown force from the borders of the Smolensk land.

In my opinion, in life, truth is mixed with fiction. Most likely, there was a successful foray by the Smolensk squad of Prince Svyatoslav, the son of Smolensk Prince Mstislav the Old. The Tatar detachment was defeated and went south to the steppe. It is possible that Prince Svyatoslav Mstislavovich also died in the battle, since it is known that in 1238 his younger brother Vsevolod took the Smolensk throne instead of him.

Residents of the small town of Kozelsk on the Zhizdra River (now Kozelsk, Kaluga Region) put up stubborn resistance for 7 weeks. In Kozelsk, the appanage prince was some baby Vasily. CM. Solovyov retells the Russian chronicle this way: “The residents of Kozelsk decided not to surrender to the Tatars: “Although our prince is young,” they said, “we will lay down our lives for him; and here we will receive glory, and there we will receive heavenly crowns from Christ God.” The Tatars finally smashed the city walls and climbed the rampart, but even here they met stubborn resistance: the townspeople fought with them with knives, while others left the city, attacked the Tatar regiments and killed 4,000 enemies until they themselves were all exterminated; the rest of the inhabitants, wives and infants, suffered the same fate; what happened to Prince Vasily is unknown; some say that he drowned in blood because he was still young. Since then, the chronicler adds, the Tatars did not dare to call Kozelsk by its real name, but called evil city».

According to the Bulgarian chronicle, Kozelsk lasted not 7 weeks, but 7 days. Moreover, the assault on the fortress failed not so much because of the desperate resistance of the inhabitants, but because of the attacks of the cavalry squad, which had taken refuge in the forest not far from the city. As soon as the Tatars began the assault, they were attacked from the rear by a cavalry squad. On the seventh day, the cavalry squad, located in Kozelsk, went on a sortie at dawn. The Tatars slept through the attack, and most of the warriors from Kozelsk went to Chernigov. Kozelsk was taken and, by order of Batu Khan, razed to the ground. According to the Bulgarian chronicle, in the battles for Kozelsk the Tatars lost 7 thousand soldiers killed.

Thus, the losses to the Tatars near Kozelsk were inflicted not by ordinary townspeople (as Soviet historians used to say), but by strong Chernigov and Kozelsk squads. If you believe the Bulgarian chronicle, this was the first example of tactically competent actions of the Russians in the war of 1237–1238.

After the capture of Kozelsk, the Tatar army headed to the steppes, to the Polovtsian land, where Batu defeated Khan Kotyan, who with 40 thousand of his people went to Hungary, where he received land for settlement.

SECRETS OF THE RUSSIAN LAND

Rus' AND THE HORDE

A.B. SHIROKORAD

Moscow

"EVCHE"

© Shirokorad A.B., 2004.

© Veche Publishing House LLC, 2004.

annotation

A book by the famous military historian A.B. Shirokorada is an overview of Russian-Tatar relations from the time of the Golden Horde until the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to Russia. In addition, the book contains little-known facts about the role of the Crimean Tatars in the Crimean War, and then in the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars. Topics such as the “Mongol-Tatar yoke”, the reasons for the rise of Moscow, the policy of appanages and grand dukes, the Tatar vector in Russian domestic and foreign policy are considered. The author’s goal was not to criticize the masters of Russian history, but to create an objective picture of complex political processes, avoiding ideological cliches and hushing up the negative aspects of our history.

BLOODY PROLOGUE................................................... . 5

THE FALL OF RYAZAN................................................... ... 10

THE RUIN OF NORTH-WESTERN Rus'.................................. 20

CAMPAIGNS OF THE TATARS IN 1239-1241. ........................... 32

ALEXANDER NEVSKY - MYTH AND REALITY.................................................... 42

THE GOLDEN HORDE AND Rus'............................................... 69

HOW THE RELATIVES OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY LOOKED THE TATARS INTO Rus' 85

TATAR BATOG RAISES MOSCOW.......... 100

HOW DMITRY DONSKOY “BROKE THE BACK” OF THE GOLDEN HORDE........ 129

“KEEP OUT THE EARS!”................................................. 171

KINGDOM OF DANIEL GALITSKY........ 185

THE BATTLE OF VORSKLA AND THE FALL OF SMOLENSK.................................... 211

DEFEATED WINNERS.................................... 228

TATAR VECTOR IN THE THIRTY YEARS CIVIL WAR. 254

THE END OF THE “IGA” AND THE BEGINNING OF THE KAZAN WARS...... 285

FOUNDATION OF THE CRIMEAN KHANATE.................... 296

WAR ON TWO FRONTS.................................................... 312

THE FALL OF KAZAN................................................... .345

THE STRUGGLE FOR ASTRAKHAN.................................................... 371

THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE AGAINST THE TATAR-TURKISH AGGRESSION................................ 380

GOLITSYN CAMPAIGNS.................................................. 396

MINIKHA AND LASSI HIKES.................................... 405

CRIMEA IN THE RUSSIAN-TURKISH WAR 1768-1774. ........................... 427

ACCESSION OF CRIMEA TO RUSSIA.................................................... ......... 436

TATARS IN THE CRIMINAL WAR.................................... 448

CRIMEAN TATARS IN THE CIVIL AND GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR...... 457

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………..476

APPENDIX……………………………………..478

LIST OF REFERENCES……..485

CHAPTER 1

BLOODY PROLOGUE

In the spring of 1223, his son-in-law, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, came to the Galich prince Mstislav Mstislavovich Udaloy. For many decades, the southern Russian principalities had been waging, in the words of S. M. Solovyov, an “endless and monotonous” war with the Polovtsians. The wars ended in peace, with joint feasts, and several Polovtsian “princesses” became the wives of the Rurik princes. So Kotyan’s daughter, who received the name Maria at baptism, became the wife of Mstislav the Udal.

Russian princes often used the Polovtsians as allies in the fight against their relatives and competitors, and sometimes helped the Polovtsian khans in their squabbles. Therefore, Mstislav was not surprised by his son-in-law’s request to help him with troops in the fight against other nomadic tribes. The only thing that surprised me was Kotyan’s fear of unknown tribes, whom the Polovtsians called Tatars. Kotyan gave his son-in-law many horses, camels, buffaloes, as well as beautiful slave girls, and promised even more after the victory.

The frightened khan demanded: “The Tatars took away our land today, and they will take yours tomorrow, protect us. If you don’t help us, then we will be killed today, and you - tomorrow.”

And so the Rurik princes gathered in Kyiv for advice. There were three senior princes here: Mstislav Romanovich of Kiev, Mstislav Svyatoslavovich of Chernigov and Mstislav Mstislavovich Galitsky (Udaloy). Among the younger princes came Daniil Romanovich Volynsky, Vsevolod Mstislavovich, the son of the Kiev prince, and Mikhail Vsevolodovich, the nephew of the Chernigov prince. Mstislav the Udaloy began to persuade the princes to help the Polovtsians. He said: “If we, brothers, do not help them, then they will surrender to the Tatars, and then they will have even more power.” After much thought and discussion, the princes agreed to go against the Tatars. They said: “It is better for us to receive them on a foreign land than on our own.”

The South Russian princes turned to the strong Vladimir prince Yuri Vsevolodovich for help, but he refused - matters were distant, the steppe showdowns never concerned Vladimir. Moreover, I recalled old grievances against Mstislav the Daring.

The squads of the southern princes gathered relatively quickly and went to the southeast. In total, the Russians and Polovtsians had about 80 thousand warriors. The forces of the Tatars ranged from 20 to 30 thousand horsemen.

The Tatar commanders Subedei and Jebe led three tumens 2 through the Caucasus in 1222. The Georgian king George Lasha came out to meet them and was destroyed with his entire army. The Tatars managed to capture guides who showed them the way through the Dalyal Gorge (the modern Georgian Military Road). The Tatar army reached the upper reaches of the Kuban River, to the rear of the Polovtsians. Here the Tatars clashed with the Alans. At the sight of the Tatars, the Alans simply fled, and the Tatars got excellent horses and food. The Polovtsians also did not dare to give battle and very quickly, but in an organized manner, migrated to the Russian borders.

On the right bank of the Dnieper near the city of Zaruba, the Russian army was met by Tatar ambassadors. They told the Russian princes: “We heard that you were going against us, having obeyed the Polovtsians, but we did not occupy your land, neither your cities nor villages, nor did we come against you. By God's permission we came against our servants and grooms, against the filthy Polovtsians, but with you we have no war. If the Polovtsians run to you, then you beat them from there and take their goods for yourself. We heard that they do a lot of harm to you, too, and that’s why we beat them from here.”

The princes did not want to enter into negotiations, but ordered the ambassadors to be killed, believing that they could just be spies.

The Russian army marched for several days along the Dnieper, observing Tatar patrols on the left bank. Near the island of Khortytsia, where the famous Zaporozhye Sich would later arise, Mstislav Udaloy secretly crossed the Dnieper with a thousand of the best horsemen and quickly attacked the vanguard of the Tatars. The Galicians surrounded the Tatars, who took up defensive positions on the Polovtsian mound, and killed them. The Tatar commander, a certain Gemebek, was captured and handed over to the Polovtsians, who immediately killed him.

Then the entire allied army crossed the Dnieper. For eight days the allies walked east, deepening into the Polovtsian steppe. The advanced detachments managed to capture herds of cattle, but there were no military clashes with the Tatars. A small skirmish occurred on the eighth day of the journey near the small river Kalki (modern name Kalchik), which merges with the Kalmius River at its very confluence with the Sea of ​​Azov. The Tatars were defeated and fled. The Russians crossed the Kalka and set up camp on its left bank.

Early in the morning of June 16, 1223. Mstislav Udaloy rode to the forward post and saw the approaching Tatar army. Mstislav decided to deal with the Tatars alone. He alerted only his own regiments, without warning the other princes. At the head of the leading regiment, eighteen-year-old Prince Daniil Romanovich rushed towards the enemy. He received a strong blow to the chest, but was saved from death by strong armor. His uncle, the Lutsk prince Mstislav Yaroslavovich Nemoy, rushed to Daniil’s rescue. The Tatars fled in front of their uncle and nephew, as well as in front of Oleg Kursky's squad.

But then the Polovtsians began to flee. Crowds of Polovtsy, distraught with fear, flew into the regiments of the other princes standing in battle formation. As a result, the Russians suffered a defeat, which, according to the chronicler, “has not happened since the beginning of the Russian land.”

The Kiev prince Mstislav with his son-in-law Andrei and the Dubrovitsky prince Alexander, seeing the trouble, stood on the mountain above Kalka and did not move. His regiments fenced themselves off with a stake and for three days fought off this fortification from the Tatars, of whom only two detachments remained under the command of Chegirkan and Tashukan. The rest rushed in pursuit of the retreating Russian army to the Dnieper.

Along with the Tatars, a large detachment of wanderers also fought, that is, all the rabble that staggered in the steppes. Most of them considered themselves Orthodox. The leader of the Brodniks, Ploskina, entered into negotiations with the Russians and kissed Mstislav’s cross, vowing that if the Russians surrendered, the Tatars would not kill them, but would release them for a ransom. The princes believed, surrendered and were crushed: they were placed under boards on which the noble Tatars sat down to feast.

During the pursuit of the remnants of the Russian troops to the Dnieper, the Tatars killed six princes - Mstislav of Chernigov with his son, Svyatoslav Yanevsky, Izyaslav Ingvarevich, Svyatoslav Shumsky and Yuri Nesvizh. In addition, the famous hero Alexander Popovich was killed.

Mstislav the Udal, with young Daniil Romanovich and several other princes, managed to cross the Dnieper. After this, Mstislav, fearing Tatar pursuit, ordered the destruction of all boats in the crossing area. But the Tatars reached Novgorod of Svyatopolk and turned back. Residents of Russian cities and villages came out to meet them with crosses, but the Tatars killed them. According to the chronicler: “Screams and sighs were heard throughout all cities and towns. We don’t know where these evil Taurmeni Tatars came from and where did they go again? Some interpreted that these must be those unclean nations whom Gideon once drove into the desert and who, before the end of the world, should appear and captivate all countries.”

In fact, these were ethnic Mongols, and I call them Tatars because they are called that way in Russian chronicles and for the convenience of readers. The ancestors of modern Tatars living in Tatarstan not only did not participate in the battle, but, on the contrary, actively resisted the Mongols of Subedei when they tried to cross the Volga at the southern borders of Bulgaria. As the 13th-century Arab historian Ibn al-Asir wrote, the Bulgars “ambushed them in several places” and, having lured them, “attacked them from the rear” and killed many soldiers. The surviving Mongols returned to Mongolia through the steppes of Kazakhstan.

CHAPTER 2

THE FALL OF RYAZAN

“The godless Tsar Batu came to the Russian land with many Tatar warriors and stood on the river in Voronezh near the land of Ryazan. And he sent unlucky ambassadors to Ryazan to Grand Duke Yuri Igorevich of Ryazan, demanding from him a tenth share in everything: in princes, and in all sorts of people, and in the rest. And the Grand Duke Yuri Ingorevich Ryazansky heard about the invasion of the godless Tsar Batu, and immediately sent to the city of Vladimir to the noble Grand Duke Georgiy Vsevolodovich of Vladimir, asking him for help against the godless Tsar Batu, or for the Great Prince Georgiy Vsevolodovich of Vladimir to go against him and not go himself and did not send help, planning to fight Batu alone. And Grand Duke Yuri Ingorevich Ryazansky heard that there was no help for him from Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky and immediately sent for his brothers: for Prince Davad Igorevich of Murom, and for Prince Gleb Ingorevich Kolomensky, and for Prince Oleg the Red, and for Vsevolod Pronsky, and other princes. And they began to hold advice on how to satisfy the wickedness with gifts. And he sent his son, Prince Fyodor Yuryevich of Ryazan, to the godless Tsar Batu with great gifts and prayers so that he would not go to war on the Ryazan land. And Prince Fyodor Yuryevich came to the river in Voronezh to Tsar Batu, and brought him gifts, and prayed to the Tsar not to fight the Ryazan land. The godless, deceitful and merciless Tsar Batu accepted the gifts and in his lies feignedly promised not to go to war on the Ryazan land. But he boasted and threatened to fight the entire Russian land. And he began to ask the princes of Ryazan for daughters and sisters to come to his bed. And one of the Ryazan nobles, out of envy, reported to the godless Tsar Batu that Prince Fyodor Yuryevich of Ryazan had a princess from the royal family and that she was more beautiful than anyone else in her physical beauty. Tsar Batu was cunning and unmerciful in his unbelief, became inflamed in his lust and said to Prince Fyodor Yuryevich: “Let me, prince, taste the beauty of your wife.” The noble Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Ryazansky laughed and answered the Tsar: “It is not right for us Christians to bring our wives to you, the wicked Tsar, for fornication. When you defeat us, then you will own our wives.” The godless Tsar Batu was furious and offended and immediately ordered the death of the faithful Prince Fyodor Yuryevich, and ordered his body to be thrown to be torn to pieces by animals and birds, and he killed other princes and the best warriors.

But one of the mentors of Prince Fyodor Yuryevich, named Aponitsa, survived and wept bitterly, looking at the glorious body of his honest master; and seeing that no one was guarding him, he took his beloved sovereign and buried him secretly. And he hurried to the faithful princess Eupraxia, and told her how the wicked Tsar Batu killed the faithful prince Fyodor Yuryevich.

The blessed princess Eupraxia was standing at that time in her lofty mansion and holding her beloved child, Prince Ivan Fedorovich, and when she heard these deadly words, filled with grief, she rushed from her lofty mansion with her son Prince Ivan straight to the ground and crashed to death ..."

This is what “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” says. In the 20s and 30s of the 13th century, the Ryazan princes managed to quarrel with both the Grand Duke of Vladimir and the Prince of Chernigov. In addition, the neighboring Russian princes did not appreciate the threat of the Tatar invasion and at first perceived it only as a raid on Ryazan.

As a result, only the Ryazan army came out against the Tatars under the command of the Ryazan prince Yuri Igorevich. The battle took place near the Voronezh River, “... it was an evil and terrible slaughter. Many strong Batyev regiments fell. And Tsar Batu saw that the Ryazan force was fighting hard and courageously, and he was afraid. But who can stand against the wrath of God! Batu’s forces were great and irresistible; one Ryazan man fought with a thousand, and two – with ten thousand.”

The Ryazan army was defeated. In the battle, Yuri Igorevich and his relatives fell - nephews Davyd (the appanage prince of Murom) and Gleb (the appanage prince of Kolomna) Ingvarevich and his great-nephew Vsevolod Mikhailovich (the appanage prince of Pronsky). According to the “Tale...” the entire army also died.

On December 16, 1237, the Tatars besieged Ryazan. It was relatively well fortified. The city, covering an area of ​​about 10 hectares, was built on steep hills. The city rampart, even after standing for such a long time (since the 12th century), was a powerful structure up to 10 m high and more than 20 m wide at the base. A ditch stretched along the entire length of the rampart, reaching great depths in some places. In a number of places the shaft was interrupted - there were fortress gates. When excavating the rampart, it turned out that it was not only a grandiose embankment, but also a complex defensive structure made of earth and wooden fortress walls. In the upper part of the shaft, the remains of a solid wooden wall made of longitudinally placed logs tied with transverse logs were discovered. In addition, there were several inner city ramparts. There were at least three large stone churches in the city. “Tsar Batu... besieged the city, and fought relentlessly for five days. Batya’s army changed, and the townspeople constantly fought. And many townspeople were killed, and others were wounded, and others were exhausted from great labors. And on the sixth day, early in the morning, the wicked went to the city - some with lights, others with vices, and others with countless stairs - and took the city of Ryazan in the month of December on the twenty-first day. And they came to the cathedral church of the Most Holy Theotokos, and Grand Duchess Agrippina, the mother of the Grand Duke, with her daughters-in-law and other princesses, they flogged them with swords, and they betrayed the bishop and priests to fire - they burned them in the holy church, and many others fell from weapons. And in the city many people, both wives and children, were cut with swords... And the temples of God were destroyed and a lot of blood was shed in the holy altars. And not a single living person remained in the city: they all died and drank the single cup of death. There was no one moaning or crying here - no father and mother about their children, no children about their father and mother, no brother about their brother, no relatives about their relatives, but they all lay dead together. And all this happened for our sins.”

Now a number of historians are inclined to see exaggerations in the “Tale...”. However, archaeological excavations confirm the destruction of the vast majority of the townspeople.

This is what archaeologist V.P. writes. Darkevich: “Our expedition carried out systematic excavations of mass graves of victims of the Mongol invasion in 1977 - 1979. on the hem near the Oka and near the former estate house of the Sterligovs near the southern outskirts of the village of Fatyanovka.

A study of anthropological materials showed: of the 143 opened burials, the majority belong to men aged 30 to 40 years and women from 30 to 35 years. There are many children's burials, from infants to 6-10 years old. These are the Ryazan people, whom the conquerors exterminated without exception, many after the capture of the city. The boys, girls and young women who survived were probably divided among the warriors. The skeleton of a pregnant woman was found; the murdered man was clutching a small child to his chest. Some of the skeletons had broken skulls, the bones bore traces of saber blows, and their hands were severed. Many individual skulls. Arrowheads stuck in the bones. Residents of cities who showed stubborn resistance faced brutal reprisals. With the exception of artisans and those enslaved, the rest of the prisoners were hacked to death with an ax or double-edged ax. Mass executions took place methodically and cold-bloodedly: the condemned were divided among the centurions, and the same ones instructed each slave to kill at least ten people. According to the stories of chroniclers, after the fall of Ryazan, men, women and children, monks, nuns and priests were destroyed by fire and sword, crucified, and struck with arrows. The heads of the prisoners were cut off: during the excavations by A.V. Selivanov of the Spassky Cathedral discovered clusters of 27 and 70 skulls, some with traces of blows from sharp weapons.”

Some time after the capture of Ryazan, the Ryazan prince Ingvar Ingvarevich arrived in the destroyed city, who during the invasion was in Chernigov with Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich. As it is said in the “Tale...”: “Prince Ingvar Ingvarevich saw the great final destruction for our sins and cried out pitifully, like a trumpet calling to the army, like a sweet sounding organ. And from that great cry and terrible cry he fell to the ground as if dead.”

Ingvar Ingvarevich gathered the surviving surrounding residents and buried the dead (or at least part of them). Excavations confirm the “Tale...”: “In the mass graves of Ryazan, the dead were buried without coffins, in common pits up to 1 m deep, and the frozen ground was heated with fires. They were laid down according to Christian rites - with their heads to the west, with their hands folded on their chests. The skeletons lie in rows, close to each other, sometimes in two or three tiers.”

Some historians believe that Ingvar Ingvarevich restored Ryazan. They justified this with the same “Tale...”: “The blessed Prince Ingvar Ingvarevich, called Kozma in holy baptism, sat on the table of his father Ingvar Svyatoslavich. And he renovated the land of Ryazan, and erected churches, and built monasteries, and comforted the strangers, and gathered people.”

But the “Tale...” speaks not about the city, but about the land of Ryazan. Archaeologists have clearly proven that Ryazan was no longer restored, and the cultural layer after 1237 not found. Only in one part of the city were the remains of 17th-century estates found. The Ryazan prince made the city of Pereyaslavl Ryazan his capital, which from the middle of the 14th century began to be called Ryazan.

The “Tale...” tells that the Russian boyar Evpatiy Kolovrat, who was in Chernigov with Prince Ingvar Ingvarevich, went to the aid of Ryazan with a “small squad”. “And he rushed to the city of Ryazan, and saw the city devastated, the sovereigns killed and many people killed: some were killed and flogged, others were burned, and others were drowned in the river. And Evpatiy cried out in the grief of his soul, burning in his heart. And he gathered a small squad - one thousand seven hundred people, whom God preserved outside the city. And they chased after the godless king, and barely overtook him in the land of Suzdal, and suddenly attacked the Batu camps. And they began to flog without mercy, and all the Tatar regiments were mixed up. And the Tatars looked like they were drunk or crazy. And Evpatiy beat them so mercilessly that their swords became dull, and he took Tatar swords and cut them with them. It seemed to the Tatars that the dead had risen. Evpatiy, driving right through the strong Tatar regiments, was merciless to them. And he rode among the Tatar regiments so bravely and courageously that the Tsar himself was afraid.”

Tsar Batu “sent his Shurich Khostovrul to Evpatiy, and with him strong Tatar regiments. Khostovrul boasted to the king and promised to bring Evpatiy alive to the king. And strong Tatar regiments surrounded Evpatiy, trying to take him alive. And Khostovrul moved in with Evpatiy. Evpatiy was a giant of force and cut Khostovrul in half to the saddle. And he began to flog the Tatar force, and beat many of the famous heroes of the Batyevs, cut some in half, and chopped others to the saddle. And the Tatars became afraid, seeing what a strong giant Evpatiy was. And they brought on him many vices, and began to beat him with countless vices, and barely killed him. And they brought his body to King Batu. Tsar Batu sent for the Murzas, and the princes, and the Sanchakbeys, and everyone began to marvel at the courage, and the strength, and the courage of the Ryazan army. And they said to the king: “We have been with many kings, in many lands, in many battles, but we have never seen such daredevils and spirited men, and our fathers did not tell us. These are winged people, they do not know death, and so strong and courageously, riding on horses, they fight - one with a thousand, and two with darkness. Not one of them will leave the massacre alive.” And Tsar Batu said, looking at Evpatievo’s body: “O Kolovrat Evpatie! You treated me well with your small retinue, and you beat many heroes of my strong horde, and defeated many regiments. If such a one served with me, I would keep him close to my heart.” And he gave Evpatiy’s body to the remaining people from his squad, who were captured in the battle. And King Batu ordered to let them go and not harm them in any way.”

The Tatars destroyed not only Ryazan, but also ruined the entire principality. They took Pronsk, and Prince Oleg Ingvarevich Krasny was captured by the Tatars. The author of “The Tale...” claims that in Pronsk, Ingvar Ingvarevich collected “the dissected parts of the body of his brother... Oleg Ingvarevich.” But this is not true. The Tatars held Prince Oleg captive until the death of the Ryazan prince Ingvar Ingvarevich in 1252 and only then released him to Rus'. Oleg Ingvarevich died in December 1258. and was buried in Pereyaslavl Ryazan in the Church of the Holy Savior.

The Tatars literally wiped the city of Belgorod Ryazan off the face of the earth. It was never restored again, and now even its exact location is unknown. Tula historians identify it with a settlement near the village of Beloroditsa on the Polosna River, 16 km from the modern city of Veneva.

The Ryazan city of Voronezh also perished. For several centuries the ruins of the city stood deserted, and only in 1586 a fort was built in its place to protect against the attacks of the Crimean Tatars.

The rather famous city of Dedoslavl was also destroyed by the Tatars. A number of historians identify it with a settlement near the village of Dedilovo on the right bank of the Shat River.

However, historians and archaeologists cannot identify the overwhelming majority of dozens of cities (fortifications) destroyed by the Tatars in 1237 - 1238, both in the Ryazan region and throughout Russia. These cities remain nameless. They are united only by traces of fire, mass graves without coffins, or even simply chaotically lying remains of people with traces of violent death, children and adults who hid in basements, stoves and other shelters and found their death there.

CHAPTER 3

THE RUIN OF NORTH-WESTERN Rus'

From Ryazan, Batu’s army moved up the Oka River and approached Kolomna, and there the Tatars were awaited by the squads of Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich and the remnants of the Ryazan squad led by Prince Roman Ingvarevich. I note that the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich himself did not go with the army, but sent his eldest son Vsevolod with the governor Eremey.

The Tatars surrounded the Russians. Roman Ingva-revich and governor Eremey with most of the army were killed in the battle. Yuri Vsevolodovich managed to escape to his father in Vladimir. Kolomna was taken by the Tatars and plundered.

From Kolomna, the troops of Tsarevich Guyuk approached the city of Moscow along the ice of the Moscow River. The capture of Moscow is described briefly and unclearly in Russian sources. In any case, the wooden Kremlin was taken by storm. Voivode Philip Nyanka (Nyanko) was killed, and the young prince Vladimir Yuryevich (the third son of Yuri Vsevolodovich) was captured. Tsarevich Guyuk took with him the captive Vladimir Yuryevich and the head of Philip Nyanka, who had fallen in battle, and went to the city of Vladimir.

February 3, 1238 The main forces of the Tatars, led by Batu, approached Vladimir. Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich fled from the capital. In Vladimir, he left his wife Agafya and two eldest sons Vsevolod and Mstislav with the governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich and part of the squad.

Yuri with the main army moved to the northwest and, having crossed the Volga near Uglich, set up his camp on the Sit River, about 30 km west of the Volga. Together with the Grand Duke were his three nephews - the sons of Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich Vasilko, Vsevolod and Vladimir. Having called upon his brothers Yaroslav and Svyatoslav, Yuri Vsevolodovich obviously intended to take up defensive positions with the participation of all available squads of the Suzdal land and use the Volga and Mologa rivers as natural defensive lines from the east and north.

As the Tver Chronicle says: “The lawless Tatars came to Vladimir... They brought Vladimir Yuryevich with them to the Golden Gate, asking: “Do you recognize your prince?” His brothers, governor Oslyadyukovich and all the people shed copious tears, seeing the bitter torment of the prince. The Tatars moved away from the city gates, drove around the city, and then set up camp at a visible distance in front of the Golden Gate. Vsevolod and Mstislav Yuryevich wanted to leave the city against the Tatars, but Peter the Voivode forbade them to fight, saying: “There is no courage, no reason, no strength against God’s punishment for our sins.”

While part of the Tatar army surrounded Vladimir with a palisade and prepared siege engines, the rest of the army made a lightning raid on Suzdal on February 5 and burned the city on the same day.

The assault on Vladimir began on the morning of February 7. As the same Tver Chronicle says: “In the morning, princes Vsevolod and Mstislav and Bishop Mitrofan saw that the city would be taken, and, not hoping for anyone’s help, they all entered the church of the Holy Mother of God and began to repent of their sins. And those of them who wanted to accept the schema, Bishop Mitrofan tonsured them all: the princes, and Princess Yuri, and his daughter, and daughter-in-law, and pious men and women. And the Tatars began to prepare vices, and approached the city, and broke through the city wall, and filled the ditch with broken branches, and so, according to a sign, they entered the city; So from Lybid they entered the Irinin Gate, and from Klyazma into the Copper and Volga Gates, and so they took the city and set it on fire. The princes, and the bishop, and the princesses saw that the city was set on fire and people were dying in the fire, and others were being cut down with swords, and the princes fled to the Middle City. And the bishop, and the princess with her daughters-in-law, and with her daughter, Princess Theodora, and with her grandchildren, other princesses, and boyars, and many people ran into the church of the Holy Mother of God and locked themselves in the choir. And the Tatars took the Middle City, and knocked down the doors of the church, and collected a lot of wood, surrounded the church with wood and set it on fire. And all those who were there suffocated, and so gave up their souls into the hands of the Lord; and the Tatars chopped up other princes and people.”

It should be noted that three sons of Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich died during the siege. Vladimir, Vsevolod and Mstislav are now considered local saints of the city of Vladimir.

It is quite difficult to understand the subsequent actions of the Tatars from Russian chronicles. So, the Laurentian Chronicle says that in February 1238. Six large cities of the Suzdal land were captured, after which on March 4, the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich was defeated on the Sit River. The Novgorod First Chronicle already lists eight cities of the Suzdal land (and only two of them coincide with those listed in the Laurentian Chronicle) and reports that they were taken after the Battle of the City. The Nikon Chronicle of the 16th century adds two more cities to the previously mentioned cities. No details of the capture of any of the fourteen cities named in various sources are given in the chronicles. The story of the capture and plunder of Suzdal, to which more space is devoted than to all others, consists of fragments borrowed by chroniclers from early texts. For example, from the description of the sack of Kyiv by the Polovtsians in 1203, and this description can hardly be trusted. There was no place even for the story about the destruction of Rostov, whose own chronicle was later included in the chronicle of Vladimir (that is, in the Lavrentievskaya). It seems that the chroniclers of Vladimir and Novgorod simply listed the main cities of the Suzdal land without any idea of ​​which of these cities the Tatars attacked, which they plundered, and which they bypassed.

L.N. Gumilyov states: “Residents of the rich commercial Uglich, for example, quickly found a common language with the Mongols. By handing over horses and provisions, the Uglich residents saved their city; Later, almost all Volga cities did the same. Moreover, there were Russians joining the ranks of the Mongol troops. The Hungarian chronicler called them “the worst Christians.”

Professor of the Kazan State Pedagogical University Zufar Zainievich Miftakhov believes that “Kostroma, Tver, Yaroslavl survived - all the cities along the Volga survived precisely because they made peace with the Tatars and Mongols.”

In my opinion, the question of Kostroma should be considered open, but Tver was destroyed by the Tatars, and in 1240. Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich actually founded a new city on the left bank of the Volga at the mouth of the Tvertsa River. And old Tver was one and a half kilometers away on the right bank of the Volga at the confluence of the Tmaka River.

It should be noted here that after the capture of Vladimir the Tatars did not move as a single army, but in separate strike groups. Miftakhov brings some clarity. He claims that together with Batu’s army, 11 to 12 thousand Bulgar troops moved under the command of Emir Gazi Baraj. A separate Bulgar detachment of Boyan, the son of the Bulgar king Altynbek, acted in the north in isolation from the Tatar forces. Boyan managed to capture the city of Ustyug. The former Nizhny Novgorod monk As-Azim, who served for some time as a priest in the city of Bilyar and was sent by Gazi Baraj on a campaign together in Boyan, persuaded the local governor to surrender the city without bloodshed.

After the capture of Ryazan by the Tatars, the army of Emir Gazi Baraj moved to Nizhny Novgorod. By the time the Bulgar troops arrived, the prince was not in the city, and the Nizhny Novgorod boyars themselves opened the gates to Gazi Baraj. Miftakhov claims that about 4 thousand Russian foot soldiers from Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov joined the emir’s army.

By the beginning of March 1238. squads of several princes of northeastern Rus', led by Yuri Vsevolodovich, gathered on the Sit River. Among them was his brother, Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl, and three nephews Vasilko, Vsevolod and Vladimir Konstantinovich. Not a single prince ever wanted to join the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in 1236 captured Kyiv and became the Grand Duke of Kyiv. Our loyal historians claim that Yaroslav really wanted to help his brother Yuri and was in a hurry to Sit, but was a little late. In fact, the cunning Yaroslav did not even think of fighting the Tatars, but after the death of Yuri, he really hurried and quickly ran to reign in Vladimir.

Yuri Vsevolodovich turned out to be an extremely mediocre commander. It is quite possible that he and his entourage were attacked by panic fear of the Tatars. He did not even bother to organize reconnaissance and surveillance of the Tatar army. As a result, the Russian squads were suddenly surrounded by the Tatars. On March 4, during a brutal battle, the Russians were completely defeated, and princes Yuri Vsevolodovich and Vsevolod Konstantinovich fell in battle. As the Tver Chronicle says: “And the Tatars captured Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov and took him to the Shernsky forest, forcing him to live according to their custom and fight on their side. But he did not submit to them and did not accept food from their hands, but uttered many blasphemous words against their king and all of them. They, cruelly torturing him, killed him on the fourth of March, in the middle of Lent, and threw his body in the forest.” Later, princes Yuri Vsevolodovich and Vasilko of Rostov were canonized.

The battle took place between the modern villages of Ignatovo and Revyakino Gorodishche, Yaroslavl region, approximately 16 km above the confluence of the Sit River into the Rybinsk Reservoir. Archaeologist N.P. Sabaneev discovered the graves of fallen soldiers in this area. Alas, the ungrateful descendants did not bother to erect not only a monument, but even any sign indicating the place of the battle.

It is curious that Miftakhov claims that the Tatar-Mongols did not have to participate in the battle of the City, but the Bulgars and 4 thousand Russian infantry from Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov fought with the army of Yuri Vsevolodovich. The Grand Duke of Vladimir himself did not take part in the battle. “Back in 1229, he was “wounded in the backside, which is why since then he could not ride a horse” (Gazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi Baraj. 1229-1246. Bakhshi Iman. Collection of Bulgarian chronicles. Volume one. Orenburg, 1993. P. 165). Therefore, Yuri Vsevolodovich left the battlefield not on horseback, but on a cart. He ran away on the road to Novgorod. However, it was not possible to drive far: he was ambushed by Kul Burat. The security detachment was quickly destroyed by Bulgar archers. The Grand Duke jumped off the cart and ran towards the forest, but got stuck in deep snow. The son of the late Tarkhan Bachman, Naryk, ran up to him and cut off his head. Then Naryk planted his head on the staff of his battle banner and sent him to Emir Gazi Baraj.”

Miftakhov also gives a completely different version of the death of Prince Vasilko Konstantinovich, whom he, however, mistakenly calls the Ryazan prince. “A few days after this (the Battle of the City River. - A.Sh.) an unexpected event occurred. On the Novgorod road, two horse patrols met: the patrol of Kul Burat and the patrol of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. This meeting was preceded by the following events.

Before leaving the city of Vladimir and his family to the mercy of fate, the Grand Duke sent the state treasury to Novgorod on 50 carts. The convoy was accompanied by the Grand Duke's younger brother Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the Ryazan prince Vasilko Konstantinovich and his son Boris. When the equestrian patrol of Prince Yaroslav collided with the patrol of the Kul Burat detachment, the convoy turned south. However, it was not possible to save the state treasury: unexpectedly the convoy came across a patrol of Guyuk’s detachment. The meeting was so unexpected that confusion arose. Boris, who was riding at the end of the convoy, took advantage of this. He managed to turn around ten carts and quietly leave the meeting place. Boris arrived at the location of the Kul Burat detachment and was escorted to Gazi Baraj. (Gazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi Baraj. Vol. 1. pp. 178-179).

According to the testimony of Gazi Baraj, a participant in these events, Prince Yaroslav handed over 40 carts with treasury valuables to Guyuk and at the same time reported that Prince Vasilko Konstantinovich sent his son Boris with 10 carts to Gazi Baraj (Gazi Baraj. Chronicle of Gazi Baraj. Vol. 1. P. 179).

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

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

“He entered Europe along the northern shore of the Maeotian swamps with a huge army and, having first conquered North-Eastern Rus', destroyed the richest city of Kiev, defeated the Poles, Silesians and Moravians and, finally, rushed to Hungary, which he completely ruined and brought into horror and the whole Christian world trembles."

Batu’s ruinous campaign against Rus' and the subsequent 250-year Tatar-Mongol yoke left an indelible mark on the history of the state.

Childhood and youth

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

Jochi's relatives did not like him. Batu’s father lived a solitary life on his lands. After Jochi's death under unclear circumstances in 1227, troops west of the Irtysh named Batu as heir. Genghis Khan approved the choice of heir. Batu shared power in the state with his brothers: Ord-Ichen received most of the army and the eastern part of the state, and Batu shared the rest with his younger brothers.

Hiking

Biography of Khan Batu - the story of the life of a great warrior. In 1235, near the Onon River, the kurultai (council of the nobility) decided to resume the campaign to the West. The first attempt to reach Kyiv was made by the troops of Genghis Khan in 1221. Having been defeated in 1224 by the Volga Bulgars (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - a state in the Middle Volga region), Genghis Khan's troops stopped their advance. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan, was entrusted with leading the new campaign. Subedei-Bagatura was appointed Batu's right hand. Subedei went on all campaigns with Genghis Khan, participated in the victorious battle with the Cumans and Russian troops on the Kalka River (present-day Donetsk region, Ukraine).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Personal life

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

Death

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

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

Memory

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

“The evil Tsar Batu captured the Russian land, shedding innocent blood like water, abundantly, and torturing Christians.”

In the East, Batu Khan is treated with respect. In Astana and Ulaanbaatar, streets are named after Batu Khan. The name of Khan Batu appears in literature and cinema. The writer Vasily Yan repeatedly turned to the biography of the great commander. The writer’s books “Genghis Khan”, “Batu”, “To the “last” sea” are known to readers. Batu is mentioned in the books of Alexei Yugov and Ilyas Yesenberlin.

Nurmukhan Zhanturin as Batu in the film "Daniil - Prince of Galitsky"

The 1987 Soviet film directed by Yaroslav Lupiya “Daniil - Prince of Galitsky” is dedicated to the campaigns of the Golden Horde and Batu Khan. In 2012, Andrei Proshkin’s film “The Horde” was released on Russian screens. The film depicts the events that took place in Rus' and the Golden Horde in the 13th century.