The beginning of Batu's invasion of Rus' is a date that is not marked on the calendar. Tatar-Mongol invasion
Mongol Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, leader of the all-Mongol campaign in the Eastern and Central Europe in 1236-1242.
Batu's father Jochi Khan, the son of the great conqueror Genghis Khan, received, according to his father's division, the land holdings of the Mongols from the Aral Sea to the west and north-west. Genghisid Batu became an appanage khan in 1227, when the new supreme ruler of the huge Mongol state Ogedei (the third son of Genghis Khan) transferred to him the lands of Jochi’s father, which included the Caucasus and Khorezm (the possessions of the Mongols in Central Asia). The lands of Batu Khan bordered those countries in the West that the Mongol army was to conquer - as his grandfather, the greatest conqueror in world history, ordered.
At the age of 19, Batu Khan was already a fully established Mongol ruler, having thoroughly studied the tactics and strategy of warfare by his illustrious grandfather, who had mastered the military art of the Mongol mounted army. He himself was an excellent horseman, shot accurately with a bow at full gallop, skillfully cut with a saber and wielded a spear. But the main thing is that the experienced commander and ruler Jochi taught his son to command troops, command people and avoid strife in the growing house of the Chingizids.
It was obvious that young Batu, who received the outlying, eastern possessions of the Mongol state along with the khan’s throne, would continue the conquests of his great grandfather. Historically steppe nomadic peoples moved along the path trodden over many centuries - from East to West. The founder of the Mongolian state for his long life he never managed to conquer the entire Universe, which he so dreamed of. Genghis Khan bequeathed this to his descendants - his children and grandchildren. In the meantime, the Mongols were accumulating strength.
Finally, at the kurultai (congress) of the Chingizids, convened on the initiative of the second son of the Great Khan Oktay in 1229, it was decided to carry out the plan of the “shaker of the Universe” and conquer China, Korea, India and Europe.
The main blow was again directed to the West from sunrise. To conquer the Kipchaks (Polovtsians), Russian principalities and Volga Bulgars, a huge cavalry army was assembled, which was to be led by Batu. His brothers Urda, Sheiban and Tangut, his cousins, among whom were the future great khans (Mongol emperors) - Kuyuk, son of Ogedei, and Menke, son of Tului, along with their troops also came under his command. Not only the Mongol troops went on a campaign, but also the troops of the nomadic peoples under their control.
Batu was also accompanied by outstanding commanders of the Mongol state - Subedei and Burundai. Subedey had already fought in the Kipchak steppes and in Volga Bulgaria. He was also one of the winners in the battle of the Mongols with the united army of Russian princes and Polovtsians on the Kalka River in 1223.
In February 1236, a huge Mongol army, gathered in the upper reaches of the Irtysh, set out on a campaign. Khan Batu led 120-140 thousand people under his banners, but many researchers call the figure much higher. Within a year, the Mongols conquered the Middle Volga region, the Polovtsian steppe and the lands of the Kama Bulgars. Any resistance was severely punished. Cities and villages were burned, their defenders were completely exterminated. Tens of thousands of people became slaves of the steppe khans and in the families of ordinary Mongol warriors.
Having given his numerous cavalry a rest in the free steppes, Batu Khan began his first campaign against Rus' in 1237. First, he attacked the Ryazan principality, which bordered the Wild Field. The residents of Ryazan decided to meet the enemy in the border area - near the Voronezh forests. The squads sent there all died in an unequal battle. The Ryazan prince turned to other appanage neighboring princes for help, but they turned out to be indifferent to the fate of the Ryazan region, although a common misfortune came to Rus'.
Ryazan Prince Yuri Igorevich, his squad and ordinary Ryazan residents did not even think of surrendering to the mercy of the enemy. To the mocking demand that the wives and daughters of the townspeople be brought to his camp, Batu received the answer: “When we are gone, you will take everything.” Addressing his warriors, the prince said, “It is better for us to gain eternal glory by death than to be in the power of the filthy.” Ryazan closed the fortress gates and prepared for defense. All townspeople capable of holding weapons in their hands climbed the fortress walls.
On December 16, 1237, the Mongols besieged the fortified cities of Ryazan. To exhaust its defenders, the assault on the fortress walls was carried out continuously, day and night. The assault troops replaced each other, rested and again rushed to attack the Russian city. On December 21, the enemy burst through the gap into the city. The Ryazan people were no longer able to hold back this flow of thousands of Mongols. The last battles took place in the burning streets, and the victory for the soldiers of Khan Batu came at a high price.
However, soon the conquerors faced retribution for the destruction of Ryazan and the extermination of its inhabitants. One of the governors of Prince Yuri Igorevich, Evpatiy Kolovrat, who was on a long trip, learned about the enemy invasion, gathered a military detachment of several thousand people and began to unexpectedly attack the uninvited strangers. In battles with the soldiers of the Ryazan governor, the Mongols began to suffer heavy losses. In one of the battles, Evpatiy Kolovrat’s detachment was surrounded, and its remnants died along with the brave governor under a hail of stones fired by throwing machines (the most powerful of these Chinese inventions threw huge stones weighing up to 160 kilograms over several hundred meters).
The Mongol-Tatars, having quickly devastated the Ryazan land, killing most of its inhabitants and taking numerous captives, moved against the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Khan Batu led his army not directly to the capital city of Vladimir, but in a detour through Kolomna and Moscow in order to bypass the dense Meshchersky forests, which the steppe inhabitants were afraid of. They already knew that there were forests in Rus' the best shelter for Russian soldiers, and the fight with governor Evpatiy Kolovrat taught the conquerors a lot.
A princely army came out from Vladimir to meet the enemy, many times inferior in number to Batu’s forces. In a stubborn and unequal battle near Kolomna princely army was defeated, and most of the Russian soldiers died on the battlefield. Then the Mongol-Tatars burned Moscow, then a small wooden fortress, taking it by storm. The same fate befell all other small Russian towns protected wooden walls, which met on the way of the Khan's army.
On February 3, 1238, Batu approached Vladimir and besieged him. The Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich was not in the city; he was gathering squads in the north of his possessions. Having met decisive resistance from the people of Vladimir and not hoping for a quick victorious assault, Batu with part of his army moved to Suzdal, one of the largest cities in Rus', took it and burned it, exterminating all the inhabitants.
After this, Batu Khan returned to the besieged Vladimir and began installing battering machines around him. In order to prevent the defenders of Vladimir from escaping from it, the city was surrounded with a strong fence overnight. On February 7, the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality was taken by storm from three sides (from the Golden Gate, from the north and from the Klyazma River) and burned. The same fate befell all other cities in the Vladimirov region, taken from battle by the conquerors. In place of flourishing urban settlements, only ashes and ruins remained.
Meanwhile Grand Duke Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich managed to gather a small army on the banks of the City River, where the roads from Novgorod and the Russian North, from Beloozero converged. The prince did not have accurate information about the enemy. He expected new troops to arrive, but the Mongol-Tatars launched a pre-emptive strike. The Mongol army moved to the battle site from different directions - from the burned Vladimir, Tver and Yaroslavl.
On March 4, 1238, on the City River, the army of the Grand Duke of Vladimir clashed with the hordes of Batu. The appearance of the enemy cavalry was unexpected for the Vladimir people, and they did not have time to form into battle formation. The battle ended in complete victory for the Mongol-Tatars - the forces of the parties turned out to be too unequal, although the Russian warriors fought with great courage and fortitude. These were the last defenders of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', who died along with Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich.
Then the khan's troops moved to the possessions of Free Novgorod, but did not reach it. The spring thaw began, the ice on the rivers cracked under the hooves of horses, and the swamps turned into an impassable quagmire. During the tiring winter campaign, the steppe horses lost their former strength. In addition, the rich trading city had considerable military forces, and one could not count on an easy victory over the Novgorodians.
The Mongols besieged the city of Torzhok for two weeks and were able to take it only after several assaults. At the beginning of April, Batya’s army, not having reached Novgorod 200 kilometers, near the Ignach Krest tract, turned back to the southern steppes.
The Mongol-Tatars burned and plundered everything on their way back to the Wild Field. The Khan's tumens marched south in a corral, as if on a hunting raid, so that no prey could slip out of their hands, trying to capture as many captives as possible. Slaves in the Mongol state ensured its material well-being.
Not a single Russian city surrendered to the conquerors without a fight. But Rus', fragmented into numerous appanage principalities, was never able to unite against a common enemy. Each prince fearlessly and bravely, at the head of his squad, defended his own inheritance and died in unequal battles. None of them then sought to jointly defend Rus'.
On the way back, Khan Batu completely unexpectedly stayed for 7 weeks under the walls of the small Russian town of Kozelsk. Having gathered at the meeting, the townspeople decided to defend themselves to the last man. Only with the help of battering machines driven by captured Chinese engineers did the Khan’s army manage to break into the city, first breaking through the wooden fortress walls, and then storming the inner rampart. During the assault, the khan lost 4 thousand of his soldiers. Batu called Kozelsk an “evil city” and ordered to kill all its inhabitants, not even sparing infants. Having destroyed the city to the ground, the conquerors left for the Volga steppes.
Having rested and gathered their strength, the Chingizids, led by Khan Batu, in 1239 made a new campaign against Rus', now on its southern and western territories. The steppe conquerors' hopes for an easy victory again did not come true. Russian cities had to be taken by storm. First, the border Pereyaslavl fell, and then the big cities, the princely capitals of Chernigov and Kyiv. The capital city of Kyiv (its defense after the flight of the princes was led by the fearless thousand-year-old Dmitry) was taken with the help of rams and throwing machines on December 6, 1240, plundered and then burned. The Mongols exterminated most of its inhabitants. But they themselves suffered significant losses in soldiers.
After capturing Kiev, Batu’s hordes continued their campaign of conquest across the Russian land. South-Western Rus' - Volyn and Galician lands - were devastated. Here, as in North-Eastern Rus', the population took refuge in dense forests.
Thus, from 1237 to 1240, Rus' underwent a devastation unprecedented in its history, most of its cities turned into ashes, and many tens of thousands of people were carried away. Russian lands have lost their defenders. The princely squads fearlessly fought in battles and died.
At the end of 1240, the Mongol-Tatars invaded Central Europe in three large detachments - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Dalmatia, Wallachia, and Transylvania. Khan Batu himself, at the head of the main forces, entered the Hungarian plain from the direction of Galicia. The news of the movement of the steppe people horrified Western Europe. In the spring of 1241, the Mongol-Tatars defeated a 20,000-strong knightly army at the Battle of Liegnitz in Lower Silesia. Teutonic Order, German and Polish feudal lords. It seemed that even to the west of the incinerated Russian land, the Khan’s army was awaiting, albeit difficult, but still successful conquests.
But soon in Moravia near Olomouc, Khan Batu faced strong resistance from Czech and German heavily armed knightly troops. Here one of the detachments under the command of the Bohemian military leader Yaroslav defeated the Mongol-Tatar detachment of the Temnik Peta. In the Czech Republic itself, the conquerors encountered the troops of the Czech king himself, in alliance with the Austrian and Carinthian dukes. Now Batu Khan had to take not Russian cities with wooden fortress walls, but well-fortified stone castles and fortresses, the defenders of which did not even think of fighting Batu’s cavalry in an open field.
Genghisid's army encountered strong resistance in Hungary, where it entered through the Carpathian passes. Having learned about the danger, the Hungarian king began to concentrate his troops in Pest. Having stood under the walls of the fortress city for about two months and devastated the surrounding area, Batu Khan did not storm Pest and left it, trying to lure the royal troops out from behind the fortress walls, which he succeeded in doing.
A major battle between the Mongols and the Hungarians took place on the Sayo River in March 1241. The Hungarian king ordered his and allied troops to set up a fortified camp on the opposite bank of the river, surrounding it with baggage carts, and to heavily guard the bridge over the Sayo. At night, the Mongols captured the bridge and river fords and, crossing them, stood on the hills adjacent to the royal camp. The knights tried to attack them, but were repulsed by the khan's archers and stone-throwing machines.
When the second knightly detachment left the fortified camp to attack, the Mongols surrounded it and destroyed it. Batu Khan ordered the passage to the Danube to be left free, into which the retreating Hungarians and their allies rushed. The Mongol horse archers pursued, cutting off the “tail” part of the royal army with sudden attacks and destroying it. Within six days it was almost completely destroyed. On the shoulders of the fleeing Hungarians, the Mongol-Tatars burst into their capital, the city of Pest.
After the capture of the Hungarian capital, the Khan's troops under the command of Subedey and Kadan ravaged many cities of Hungary and pursued its king, who retreated to Dalmatia. At the same time, Kadan's large detachment passed through Slavonia, Croatia and Serbia, plundering and burning everything in its path.
The Mongol-Tatars reached the shores of the Adriatic and, to relieve the whole of Europe, turned their horses back to the East, to the steppes. This happened in the spring of 1242. Khan Batu, whose troops suffered significant losses in two campaigns against the Russian land, did not dare to leave the conquered, but not conquered, country in his rear.
The return journey through the southern Russian lands was no longer accompanied by fierce battles. Rus' lay in ruins and ashes. In 1243, Batu created a huge state on the occupied lands - Golden Horde, whose possessions extended from the Irtysh to the Danube. The conqueror made the city of Sarai-Batu in the lower reaches of the Volga, near the modern city of Astrakhan, his capital.
The Russian land became a tributary of the Golden Horde for several centuries. Now the Russian princes received labels for ownership of their ancestral appanage principalities in Sarai from the Golden Horde ruler, who only wanted to see conquered Rus' weak. The entire population was subject to a heavy annual tribute. Any resistance of the Russian princes or popular indignation was severely punished.
The Pope's envoy to the Mongols, Giovanni del Plano Carpini, an Italian by birth, one of the founders of the monastic order of the Franciscans, wrote after a solemn and humiliating audience for a European with the ruler of the Golden Horde
“...Batu lives in complete splendor, having gatekeepers and all officials like their Emperor. He also sits on a more elevated place, as on a throne, with one of his wives; others, both brothers and sons, and other younger ones, sit lower in the middle on a bench, while other people sit behind them on the ground, with men sitting to the right, women to the left.”
In Sarai, Batu lived in large tents made of linen fabric, which previously belonged to the Hungarian king.
Khan Batu supported his power in the Golden Horde by military force, bribery and treachery. In 1251, he participated in a coup d'etat in the Mongol Empire, during which, with his support, Möngke became Great Khan. However, Khan Batu even under him felt like a completely independent ruler.
Batu developed the military art of his predecessors, especially his great grandfather and father. It was characterized by surprise attacks, swift action by large masses of cavalry, avoidance of major battles, which always threatened with large losses of soldiers and horses, and exhaustion of the enemy by the actions of light cavalry.
At the same time, Batu Khan became famous for his cruelty. The population of the conquered lands was subjected to mass extermination, which was a measure of intimidation of the enemy. The beginning of the Golden Horde yoke in Rus' is associated with the name of Batu Khan in Russian history.
Khan Batu in Rus'. Campaigns of Khan Batu to Rus'.
After a “reconnaissance” battle on the Kalka River in 1223, Batu Khan withdrew his troops back to the Horde. But ten years later, in 1237, he returned fully prepared and launched a full-scale offensive against Rus'.
The Russian princes understood that soon Mongol invasion inevitable, but, unfortunately, they were too fragmented and disunited to give a worthy rebuff. That's why Batu's march across the country became a real disaster for the Russian state.
The first invasion of Rus' by Khan Batu.
On December 21, 1237, Ryazan fell under the attack of Batu- it was precisely this that he chose as his first goal, as the capital of one of the most powerful principalities. It should be noted that the city remained under siege for almost a week, but the forces were too unequal.
In 1238, the Mongol army approached the borders of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, and a new battle took place near the city of Kolomna. Having won another victory, Batu came close to Moscow - and the city, having held out as long as Ryazan could stand, fell under the onslaught of the enemy.
At the beginning of February, Batu’s army was already near Vladimir, the center of Russian lands. After four days of siege, the city wall was broken. Prince Yuri of Vladimir managed to escape, and exactly a month later, with a combined army, he tried to take revenge on the Tatars - but nothing came of it, and the army was completely exterminated. The prince himself also died.
Retreat from Novgorod of Khan Batu.
While Batu stormed Vladimir, one detachment attacked Suzdal, and the second headed further north, to Veliky Novgorod. However, near the small town of Torzhok, the Tatars ran into desperate resistance from Russian troops.
Surprisingly, Torzhok lasted three times longer than Ryazan and Moscow - two whole weeks. Despite this, in the end the Tatars again smashed the walls of the city, and then the defenders of Torzhok were exterminated to the last man.
But after taking Torzhok, Batu changed his mind about going to Novgorod. Despite his numerical superiority, he lost many soldiers. Apparently, not wanting to completely lose his troops under the Novgorod walls, he decided that one city not taken would not change anything, and turned back.
However, he could not manage without losses - on the way back, Kozelsk offered fierce resistance to the Tatars, seriously battering Batu’s army. For this, the Tatars razed the city to the ground, sparing neither women nor children..
Second invasion of Rus' by Khan Batu.
Taking a break for two years, Batu retreated to the Horde to restore his army and at the same time prepare for a further campaign against Europe..
In 1240, the Mongol army again invaded Rus', once again walking through it with fire and sword. This time main goal became Kyiv. Residents of the city fought the enemy for three months, even being left without a prince, who escaped - but in the end Kyiv fell, and the people were killed or driven into slavery.
However, this time the khan’s main goal was not Rus', but Europe. The Galician-Volyn principality simply turned out to be in his way.
Batu's invasion became a real disaster for Rus'. Most cities were mercilessly devastated, some, like Kozelsk, were simply wiped off the face of the earth. The country spent almost the next three centuries under the Mongol yoke.
In August 1227, Genghis Khan died. But his death didn't end Mongol conquests. The successors of the great kagan continued their aggressive policy. They significantly expanded the borders of the empire and turned it from a huge into an immense power. Genghis Khan's grandson Batu Khan made a significant contribution to this. It was he who started the Great Western Expedition, which is also called Batu's invasion.
Start of the hike
The defeat of the Russian squads and Polovtsian troops on Kalka in 1223 did not at all mean for the Mongols that the Polovtsians were completely defeated, and their main ally in the person of Kievan Rus demoralized. It was necessary to consolidate success, and to replenish their bins with new riches. However, the war with the Jurchen Kin Empire and the Tangut state of Xi-Xia prevented the start of the campaign to the west. Only after the capture of the city of Zhongxi in 1227 and the fortress of Caizhou in 1234 did the great conquerors have the opportunity to begin a western campaign.
In 1235, a kurultai (congress of the nobility) gathered on the banks of the Onon River. It was decided to resume expansion to the west. This campaign was entrusted to the leadership of the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan (1209-1256). One of the best military leaders, Subedei-Bagatura (1176-1248), was appointed commander of his troops. He was an experienced one-eyed warrior who accompanied Genghis Khan on all his campaigns and defeated the Russian squads on the Kalka River.
Mongol Empire on the map
The total number of troops that moved on the long journey was small. In total, there were 130 thousand mounted warriors in the empire. Of these, 60 thousand were in China all the time. Another 40 thousand served in Central Asia, where there was a constant need to pacify Muslims. At the headquarters of the Great Khan there were 10 thousand soldiers. So for the western campaign the Mongols were able to allocate only 20 thousand horsemen. These forces were certainly not enough. Therefore, they mobilized and took the eldest son from each family, recruiting another 20 thousand soldiers. Thus, Batu’s entire army numbered no more than 40 thousand people.
This figure is given by the outstanding Russian archaeologist and orientalist Nikolai Ivanovich Veselovsky (1848-1918). He motivates it by the fact that every warrior on a campaign had to have a riding horse, a war horse and a pack horse. That is, for 40 thousand warriors there were 120 thousand horses. In addition, convoys and siege weapons moved behind the army. These are again horses and people. They all needed to be fed and watered. The steppe had to fulfill this function, since it was simply impossible to carry food and forage in huge quantities.
The steppe, despite its endless expanses, is not omnipotent. She could only feed the specified number of people and animals. For her, this was the optimal figure. If you went on a hike larger number people and horses, they would very soon begin to die of hunger.
An example of this is General Dovator’s raid on German rear lines in August 1941. His body was in the forests all the time. By the end of the raid, people and horses almost died of hunger and thirst, since the forest could not feed and water the huge mass of living creatures gathered in one place.
Genghis Khan's military leaders turned out to be much smarter than the command of the Red Army. They were practitioners and knew the possibilities of the steppe perfectly. From this it can be seen that the figure of 40 thousand horsemen is the most likely.
The great invasion of Batu began in November 1235. Batu and Subedei-bagatur chose the time of year for a reason. Winter was beginning, and snow always replaced water for people and horses. In the 13th century, it could be eaten without fear in any corner of the planet, since the ecology met the best standards and was in ideal condition.
The troops crossed Mongolia, and then, through passes in the mountains, entered the Kazakh steppes. In the summer months, the great conquerors found themselves near the Aral Sea. Here they had to overcome a very difficult section along the Ustyurt plateau to the Volga. People and horses were saved by springs dug in the ground, and caravanserais, which from time immemorial provided shelter and food to numerous merchant caravans.
A huge mass of people and horses walked 25 km a day. The path covered a distance of 5 thousand kilometers. Therefore, the glorious bagaturs appeared in the lower reaches of the Volga only in the fall of 1236. But on fertile shores great river there was no well-deserved rest awaiting them.
The great conquerors were driven by a thirst for revenge against the Volga Bulgars, who in 1223 defeated the wax of Subedei-bagatur and Dzhebe-noyon. The Mongols stormed the city of Bulgar and destroyed it. The Bulgars themselves were mostly massacred. The survivors recognized the power of the Great Khan and bowed their heads before Batu. Other Volga peoples also submitted to the invaders. These are the Burtases and Bashkirs.
Leaving behind grief, tears and destruction, Batu’s troops crossed the Volga in 1237 and moved towards the Russian principalities. Along the way, the army split up. Two tumen (a tumen is a military unit in the Mongolian army numbering 10 thousand people) went south towards the Crimean steppes and began to pursue the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, pushing him towards the Dniester River. These troops were led by Genghis Khan's grandson Mongke Khan. Batu himself and Subedei-bagatur moved with the remaining people to the borders of the Ryazan principality.
Kievan Rus in the 13th century did not represent a single state. Back in the first half of the 12th century, it split into separate principalities. These were absolutely independent entities that did not recognize the authorities Prince of Kyiv. There were constant wars between them. As a result, cities were destroyed and people died. This time is called a period feudal fragmentation. It is typical not only for Rus', but also for the rest of Europe.
Some historians, including Lev Gumilyov, argue that the Mongols did not set themselves the goal of capturing and conquering Russian lands. They only wanted to get food and horses to fight their main enemies - the Polovtsians. It is difficult to argue with anything here, but, in any case, it is best to rely on the facts and not draw any conclusions.
Batu's invasion of Rus' (1237-1240)
Once on the Ryazan lands, Batu sent parliamentarians demanding that he be given food and horses. Ryazan Prince Yuri refused. He led his squad out of the city to fight the Mongols. Princes from the city of Murom came to his aid. But when the Mongols turned like lava and went on the attack, the Russian squads wavered and ran. They locked themselves in the city, and Batu’s troops laid siege around it.
Ryazan was poorly prepared for defense. It was only recently rebuilt after the destruction by the Suzdal prince Vsevolod the Big Nest in 1208. Therefore, the city lasted only 6 days. At the beginning of the third decade of December 1237, the Mongols took it by storm. The princely family died, and the city itself was plundered by the invaders.
By this time, Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir had gathered an army. It was headed by the son of Prince Vsevolod and the Vladimir governor Eremey Glebovich. This army also included the remnants of the Ryazan squad, the Novgorod and Chernigov regiments.
The meeting with the Mongols took place on January 1, 1238 near Kolomna in the floodplain of the Moscow River. This battle lasted 3 days and ended with the defeat of the Russian squads. The Vladimir governor Eremey Glebovich was killed, and Prince Vsevolod with the remnants of the army fought off the enemies and reached Vladimir, where he appeared before the stern eyes of his father Yuri Vsevolodovich.
But as soon as the Mongols celebrated their victory, the Ryazan boyar Evpatiy Kolovrat hit them in the rear. His detachment numbered no more than 2 thousand soldiers. With this handful of people, he bravely resisted two Mongolian tumens. The cutting was scary. But the enemy eventually prevailed due to their numbers. Evpatiy Kolovrat himself was killed, and many of his warriors were killed. As a sign of respect for the courage of these people, Batu released the survivors in peace.
After this, the Mongols besieged Kolomna, and another part of the troops surrounded Moscow. Both cities fell. Batu's troops took Moscow by storm on January 20, 1238 after a siege that lasted 5 days. Thus, the invaders ended up on the land of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and moved towards the city of Vladimir.
Prince Vladimirsky Yuri Vsevolodovich did not shine with military leadership talents. He did not have much strength, but the prince divided this little into two parts. One was charged with the duty of protecting the city from invaders, and the second was to leave the capital city and fortify itself in the dense forests.
The prince entrusted the defense of the city to his son Vsevolod, and he himself went with the second detachment to the bank of the Mologa River and set up camp in the place where the Sit River flowed into it. Here he began to wait for the army from Novgorod, so that together with him he could strike the Mongols and completely defeat the invaders.
Meanwhile, Batu's troops besieged Vladimir. The city lasted only 8 days and fell in early February 1238. The whole family of the prince died, large number residents, and the invaders burned and destroyed many buildings.
After this, the main forces of the Mongols moved to Suzdal and Pereslavl, and Batu instructed his military leader Burundai to find the Vladimir prince and destroy his troops. He didn’t look for Yuri Vsevolodovich’s fighting squad for long. The prince, holed up on the City River, did not even bother to set up patrols and send out patrols.
The Mongols accidentally stumbled upon an unguarded camp. They surrounded him and attacked him unexpectedly. The Russians bravely resisted, but were killed. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich himself also died. This event happened on March 4, 1238.
Meanwhile, the army led by Batu and Subedey-bagatur besieged Torzhok. Its inhabitants were under siege, as Novgorod promised them help. But the saviors never appeared. While the Novgorodians were holding a meeting and gathering, Batu took Torzhok on March 5th. The city's population was completely slaughtered. But the invaders did not go to Novgorod, but turned south. The spring thaw had its say, and the Mongols’ strength diminished.
The invaders also moved to the south in two detachments. These are the main forces and several thousand horsemen led by Burundai. The city of Kozelsk appeared on the path of the main group of troops. Its residents refused to open the gates. The Mongols organized a siege and began to storm the walls. But their military efforts were in vain. For 7 long weeks, the residents of a small town held back the frantic attacks of the enemy. At the same time, they themselves made regular forays and inflicted significant damage on the aggressor.
In mid-May, Burundai's detachment approached. The enemy group strengthened, and the final assault began. It continued almost without interruption for 3 days. Finally, when there were no longer adult men left on the walls, and they were replaced by women and teenagers, the Mongols managed to take possession of the city. They completely destroyed it, and slaughtered the surviving inhabitants.
The courageous defense of Kozelsk completely undermined the strength of the Mongol army. In a quick march, almost without stopping anywhere, the Mongols crossed the borders of the Chernigov principality and went to the lower reaches of the Volga. Here they rested, gained strength, replenished their tumens with human resources at the expense of the Bulgars and Russians, and began their second campaign to the west.
It should be noted that not all Russian cities resisted the invaders. The inhabitants of some of them negotiated with the Mongols. So, for example, rich Uglich supplied the invaders with horses and provisions, and Batu did not touch the city. Some Russian people willingly went to serve the Mongols. The chroniclers called such “heroes” “the worst Christians.”
Batu's second invasion of Russian lands began in the spring of 1239. The invaders walked through the already devastated cities, and then besieged Pereslavl and Chernigov. Having captured these cities and plundered them, the Mongols rushed to the Dnieper. Now their goal was the city of Kyiv. The same one suffered from princely strife. At the time of the siege, there was not even a single prince in the capital city. The defense was led by Dmitry Tysyatsky.
The siege began on September 5, 1240. The city's garrison was small, but it held out until mid-November. Only on the 19th did the Mongols take the city, and Dmitra was captured. Next came the turn of the Volyn principality. Residents of the city of Volyn initially wanted to resist the invaders, but the Bolkhov princes, who had houses in the southern part of the city, agreed with the Mongols. The townspeople gave Batu horses and provisions and thereby saved their lives.
Batu's invasion of Europe
Having defeated the Russian principalities individually, the invaders reached the western borders of the once united and powerful Kievan Rus. Before them lay Poland and Hungary. Batu sent a tumen to Poland, led by Genghis Khan's grandson Baydar. In January 1241, the Mongols approached Lublin and sent their envoys. But they were killed. Then the invaders took the city by storm. They then marched towards Krakow and defeated the Polish troops who tried to stop them. Krakow fell on March 22. Duke of Krakow Boleslaw V (1226-1279) fled to Hungary, where he hid for some time.
In April, the Battle of Liegnitz took place in Silesia. The Polish and German troops. In this battle, the Mongols won a complete victory and moved further west. In May they occupied the town of Maysen, but subsequent advances were stopped by Batu's order. He gave the command to Baydar to turn south and connect with the main forces.
The main forces were led by Batu himself and Subedei-Baghatur. They consisted of two tumens and operated in the southern regions. Here they stormed the city of Galich and moved to Hungary. The invaders sent their envoys forward, but the Hungarians killed them, thereby aggravating the situation. The Mongols stormed cities one after another, and mercilessly killed prisoners, avenging their ambassadors.
The decisive battle with the Hungarian troops took place on the Chajo River on April 11, 1241. The Hungarian king Bela IV (1206-1270) opposed the Tumen under the command of Batu and Subedei-bagatur. The Croatian army came to his aid. It was headed by the king's brother, Duke Coloman (1208-1241).
The Hungarian army was twice as large as the Mongol army. There were at least 40 thousand warriors in it. For sparsely populated Europe, such an army was considered a very serious force. The crowned persons had no doubts about victory, but they were not familiar with the tactics of the Mongol troops.
Subedei-Baghatur sent forward a 2,000-strong detachment. He appeared in the field of view of the Hungarians, and they began to pursue him. This lasted for almost a whole week, until the armored warriors found themselves in front of the Shayo River.
Here the Hungarians and Croats set up camp, and at night the main forces of the Mongols secretly crossed the river and went to the rear of the allied army. In the morning, stone-throwing machines began firing at the camp from the opposite bank of the river. Huge granite blocks flew towards the Hungarian army. Panic arose, which was aggravated by the archers of Subedei-bagatur. From the nearby hills they began to shoot arrows at the people rushing around the camp.
Having demoralized the allies, the Mongols broke into their location and the felling began. The Hungarian army managed to break through the encirclement, but this did not save it. The Mongols, retreating in panic, caught up and destroyed them. This whole massacre lasted 6 days, until Batu’s troops burst into the city of Pest on the shoulders of those fleeing.
In the battle on the Chaillot River, the Croatian Duke Koloman was mortally wounded. He died a few days after the end of the battle, and his brother King Béla IV fled to the Austrians for help. At the same time, he gave almost his entire treasury to the Austrian Duke Frederick II.
The Hungarian state came under the rule of the Mongols. Khan Batu waited for the tumen coming from Poland, led by Baydar, and turned his gaze to the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. During the summer and autumn of 1241, the Mongols conducted military operations on the right bank of the Danube and practically reached the Adriatic Sea. But after the defeat from the Austrian-Czech army near the city of Neustadt, they left for the Danube.
The forces of the aggressors weakened after many years of exhausting war. In March 1242, the Mongols turned their horses and moved east. Thus, Batu’s invasion of Europe ended. Khan of the Golden Horde returned to the Volga. Here he founded his main headquarters, the city of Sarai. This is 80 km north of modern Astrakhan.
At first, the khan's headquarters was an ordinary nomadic camp, but in the early 50s it turned into a city. It stretches along the Akhtuba River (the left branch of the Volga) for 15 km. In 1256, when Batu died, the population of Saray reached 75 thousand people. The city existed until the end of the 15th century.
Results of Batu's invasion
Batu's invasion is, of course, a grandiose event. The Mongols traveled a long way from the Onon River to the Adriatic Sea. At the same time, the campaign to the west cannot be called aggressive. It was more of a raid, typical of nomads. The Mongols destroyed cities, killed people, robbed them, but after that they left and did not impose tribute on the conquered areas.
An example of this is Rus'. There was no talk of any tribute for 20 years after Batu’s invasion. The only exceptions were the Kiev and Chernigov principalities. Here the invaders collected taxes. But the population very quickly found a way out. People began to move to the northern principalities.
This is the so-called Zalesskaya Rus'. It included Tver, Kolomna, Serpukhov, Murom, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir. That is, exactly those cities that Batu destroyed in 1237-1238. Thus, the original Russian traditions moved north. As a result, the south lost its importance. This affected the further history of the Russian state. Less than 100 years passed and the main role began to be played not by the southern cities, but by Moscow, which over time turned into the capital of a new strong power.
Batu's invasion of Rus'.
At the beginning of the 13th century. Mongol tribes (they were also called Tatars), wandering in Central Asia, united into a state led by Genghis Khan (Timuchin). The ancestral nobility of the new state sought to enrich itself, which led to large conquests of the Mongol-Tatars.
In 1207–1215 Genghis Khan captured Siberia and Northern China;
In 1219–1221 defeated the states of Central Asia;
In 1222–1223 conquered the peoples of Transcaucasia. Having penetrated the Black Sea region, the Mongol-Tatar army met resistance from the combined forces of the Russians and Polovtsians.
In the spring of 1223 on the river. A decisive battle took place in Kalka. The Mongol-Tatars won, but returned to the steppes to prepare a new campaign against Rus'.
The final decision to invade Eastern Europe was made in 1234. In the spring of 1236, a huge army (140 thousand people) of the Mongol-Tatars under the command of Batu (grandson of Genghis Khan, who died in 1227) settled on the Russian borders. Nothing prevented the invasion from starting.
The great Tatar campaigns on Russian lands lasted three years - 1237–1240. They can be divided into two stages:
2) 1239–1240 - military operations in the south and southwest of Rus'.
In the early winter of 1237, Batu's army invaded the Ryazan principality. Having defeated Belgorod and Pronsk, the Tatars besieged the capital of the principality, Ryazan (December 16-21, 1237), which they stormed and destroyed. The troops of Prince Yuri of Vladimir, who came out to meet the Mongol-Tatars, were defeated near the city of Kolomna. Yuri fled to the north to gather a new army, and Batu Khan freely approached the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the city of Vladimir, which, after a siege, he captured on February 7, 1238. The decisive battle of Russian troops with the Mongol-Tatars took place on March 4, 1238 on the river. Sit. It ended with the complete defeat of the Russian troops and the death of the Russian princes. After the defeat of northeastern Rus', Batu’s army moved towards Novgorod, but before reaching 100 versts to the city, it turned south. Novgorod was spared.
Only one city showed strong resistance to the Mongol-Tatars. It was Kozelsk on the river. Zhizdre, who withstood the siege of Batu for 7 weeks. By the summer of 1238, the Mongol-Tatars left the Russian lands: they needed time to rest and prepare for further conquests.
The second stage of the invasion of Rus' began in the spring of 1239 with the destruction of the Pereyaslav principality and the capture of the cities of the Chernigov principality (Putivl, Kursk, Rylsk, Chernigov). In the fall of 1240, the Tatars appeared near Kyiv, which they took by storm on December 6, 1240. After the fall of Kyiv, the lands of the Volyn-Galician principality were devastated. Russian lands were conquered.
Reasons for Russian defeats in battles with Batu’s army:
1) the numerical superiority of the Mongol-Tatars over the Russian squads;
2) the military art of Batu’s commanders;
3) military unpreparedness and ineptitude of the Russians compared to the Mongol-Tatars;
4) lack of unity between the Russian lands; among the Russian princes there was no prince whose influence extended to all Russian lands;
5) the forces of the Russian princes were exhausted by the internecine war.
Having conquered the Russian lands, Batu returned to the Caspian steppes, where he founded the city of Saray (100 km from Astrakhan), the capital of a new state called the Golden Horde. The Horde (Mongol-Tatar) yoke began. Russian princes had to be confirmed by special letters from the khan - labels.
To keep the Russians in obedience, the khans carried out predatory campaigns, used bribery, murder, and deception. The main part of the taxes imposed on Russian lands was tribute, or output. There were also urgent requests. To control the Russian lands, the Horde kept in major cities their governors - Baskaks and tribute collectors - Besermens, whose violence caused uprisings among the Russian population (1257, 1262). Batya's invasion of Rus' 1237–1240. led to a long-term economic, political and cultural decline of Russian lands.
The first trip to Rus'
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The Mongol-Tatars conquered Volga Bulgaria and approached the border of Rus' |
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1237 winter-spring |
Having invaded Russian lands, the Mongols besieged Ryazan. The Vladimir and Chernigov princes did not come to the aid of the Ryazan prince. The city was taken and completely destroyed. Ryazan was no longer reborn in its old place. Modern city Ryazan is located approximately 60 km from old Ryazan. |
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The Mongols moved towards the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The main battle took place near Kolomna and ended in the defeat of the Russian troops. Vladimir was besieged and, after stubborn resistance from the townspeople, captured. In the battle in the north of the principality on the City River, Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir died. |
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The Mongols did not reach Novgorod the Great only 100 kilometers and turned south. The reason for this was the swampy Novgorod area, and the strong resistance of Russian cities, and consequently, the fatigue of the Russian army. |
Second campaign against Rus' and Western Europe
Results of the Tatar-Mongol invasion:
Western Europe was saved from the Tatar yoke at the cost of the heroic resistance of the Russian principalities and only experienced an invasion, and then on a smaller scale.
The population of Rus' decreased sharply. Many people were killed or taken into slavery. Of the 74 ancient Russian cities known to archaeologists from excavations, more than 30 were devastated by Tatar invasions.
The peasant population suffered less than the townspeople, since the centers of resistance were mainly city fortresses. The death of urban artisans led to the loss of entire professions and crafts, such as glassmaking.
The death of princes and warriors - professional warriors - slowed down social development for a long time. Secular feudal land ownership began to re-emerge after the invasion.
Background
(From materials by Viktor Voskoboynikov
http://www.russian.kiev.ua/material.php?id=11607534)
Batu was the beloved grandson of the great Genghis Khan and the direct heir of his eldest son Dyaguchi. The latter appeared on the soil of Rus', fulfilling the obligations of his father. Genghis Khan in 1224 (three years before his death) entrusted his sons with the further realization of his dream - the conquest of the world. Batu's father was supposed to conquer the Cumans (Cumans) in the Kipchak steppe, Khiva, part of the Caucasus, Crimea and Ancient Kievan Rus, but did not do it. Therefore, “by accident” in 1227 (a few months before the death of Genghis Khan), he “fell” from his horse while hunting and broke his spine (according to Genghis Khan’s Yass (a set of short laws), a Mongol does not shed the blood of a Mongol, but they often broke each other’s spines).
At the kurultai (congresses) of 1229 and 1235. it was decided to send a large army to conquer new spaces north of the Caspian and Black Seas.
Supreme Khan Ogotai entrusted the leadership of this campaign to Batu. With him went Ordu, Shiban, Tangkut, Kadan, Buri and Paydar (direct descendants of Genghis Khan) and the best commanders Subutai and Bagatur. In this strategic campaign, the Tatar-Mongol troops, after the defeat of Ancient Kievan Rus, following the Cumans (Cumans), conquered part of Western Europe. Starting with Hungary, where the Polovtsian hordes went, they then conquered and plundered Poland, the Czech Republic, Moravia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Dalmatia.
The conquest of Rus' was very difficult due to the large number of cities. "Tale Bygone Years» names for the 9th – 10th centuries. more than twenty cities, for the 11th century - 64, in the 12th century - 134, and by the time of Batu's invasion - 271 cities. This list is incomplete, since the cities were mentioned in the chronicles only in connection with some important events, political or military. According to some sources, there were about 414 cities.
Therefore, the Tatar-Mongol troops showed such brutal cruelty when capturing the first few dozen cities, so that the rest, under the influence of fear of being destroyed, submitted voluntarily. This strategic plan of Batu worked.
After the destruction of the capital of Volga Bulgaria, the city of Bulgar, by Mongol troops under the leadership of Batu, who was elected in 1235 as the head of the campaign, the victory over the Cumans and Volga peoples, the Mongols began to prepare for an invasion of North-Eastern Rus'. The Ryazan principality bordered the steppe.
Batu's invasion of Rus'. The capture and destruction of Ryazan by Batu
(From the materials of the book “Ryazan History in Persons”, A.F. Agarev, V.P. Kuryshkin
Ryazan: Russian word, 2012)
The Russian princes did not take any defensive measures. Over many years of fighting against nomads, they are accustomed to the fact that they attack either at the beginning of spring or in autumn. They never expected an attack in winter. No one was able to assess the extent of the danger looming over the country. The Ryazan principality was the first on the path of the Mongols, and they started there, sending ambassadors to its prince - a certain “sorceress” and two husbands. The ambassadors conveyed Batu's demand for obedience and payment of tithes “in everything” - income, people, horses. The Mongols imposed such a tribute on all conquered peoples. The residents of Ryazan rejected the ultimatum, telling the ambassadors: “If we are not all there, then everything will be yours.”
Only after this did the Ryazan prince Yuri Igorevich begin to prepare for battle. At the same time, he turned to Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky for help, but he refused to help. The princes of Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversk refused help.
The principalities of North-Eastern Rus', plunged into strife, were unable to agree on joint defense even in the face of mortal danger. In the south, the unification of forces was achieved thanks to the energy and authority of Mstislav the Udaly. In the northeast, a similar role could have been played by the Pereyaslav prince Yaroslav or the Vladimir prince Yuri. But both of them tried to avoid participating in the war. The Ryazan princes took a decisive position, but at that time they did not yet have sufficient authority to create and lead an anti-Mongol alliance.
Ryazan was actually abandoned to its fate due to disagreements between the Ryazan princes. The eldest of them, Prince Yuri Ryazansky, decided to defend the capital. The younger princes left their cities and retreated to the Suzdal border, hoping that the Vladimir prince would nevertheless send his regiments to their aid. There is information that the Ryazan princes tried to give battle to the Mongols in the southern borders of their principality, near Voronezh, but were defeated.
Having captured the cities of Pronsk, Belgorod and Izheslavl, Batu approached the walls of Ryazan on December 16, 1237. The capital of the Ryazan principality was well fortified - the height of the earthen ramparts reached ten meters. On the ramparts rose oak walls with loopholes and towers. With the onset of frost, the ramparts were watered, which made them impregnable.
But the Mongols had a numerical advantage, and they also had much more experience than the Ryazan squad and the city militia. Taking advantage of their multiple numerical superiority, they carried out a continuous assault, changing attacking detachments, while the Ryazan residents remained on the city walls and, after two or three sleepless nights, lost combat readiness. “Batu’s army changed, and the townspeople fought constantly,” writes the author of “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” about this.
Fragment No. 2 of the diorama Defense of Old Ryazan
After a five-day siege, on December 21, 1237, the fortress was stormed and burned. Chronicles tell of a total massacre of the entire population of the city, including priests and monks.
“Batu’s army changed, and the townspeople fought constantly. 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 filthy ones 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, was flogged with swords, and the bishop and priests were put on fire - they were burned 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 others were drowned in the river, and the priests and monks were flogged without a trace, and the entire city was burned, and all the famous beauty, and the wealth of Ryazan, and their relatives - the princes of Kyiv and Chernigov - were captured.
But they destroyed the temples of God and shed a lot of blood 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.”
The capital of the Ryazan principality, numbering several tens of thousands of people, which received more more who fled here when the Mongol-Tatar army approached, was completely destroyed, and the stone temples were destroyed. During the defense of Ryazan, Prince Yuri Igorevich and members of his family died.
