Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'
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Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus | |||||||||
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Part of Mongol invasions and conquests | |||||||||
The Mongol invasion of Europe, 1236–1242 | |||||||||
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Mongol Empire Brodnici |
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1236:
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History of East Slavs |
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Middle Ages |
Early modern period |
Modern period |
Post-Soviet states |
History of states |
The
The campaign was heralded by the
The invasion facilitated the breaking of the Kievan Rus' principalities, having profound ramifications for the history of Eastern Europe, including the division of the East Slavic people into separate polities.[1][7]
Background
The Mongols had plans to conquer Eastern Europe long before
The Mongols (called "
Then he (Chinggis Khan) sent Dorbei the Fierce off against the city of Merv, and on to conquer the people between Iraq and the Indus. He sent Subetei the Brave off to war in the North where he defeated eleven kingdoms and tribes, crossing the Volga and Ural Rivers, finally going to war with Kiev.[citation needed]
The first blow of the united Chingizid army hit the
The next stage of the campaign was an attack on the
Invasion of Batu Khan
The vast Mongolian Great Khanate army of around 40,000
Immediately prior to the invasion,
In November 1237, Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of Yuri II and demanded his submission. According to the Laurentian Codex, the Mongols actually came seeking peace, but Yuri II treated them with disdain:
As they did before, the messengers came, those evil bloodsuckers, saying: "Make peace with us". He did not want that, as the prophet said: "Glorious war is better than disgraceful peace". These godless men with their deceitful peace will cause great dismay to our lands, as they have already done much evil here.
Yuri II
Regardless of what impression Yuri II may have given the Mongol delegations, of which several are mentioned, he did his best to avoid direct conflict. He sent them away with what were described as gifts, which were essentially tribute or bribes to keep them from invading.[14]
The Mongols attacked from several directions. One section attacked
Having burnt down Kolomna and Moscow, the horde laid siege to Vladimir on 4 February 1238. Three days later, the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal was taken and burnt to the ground. The royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince retreated northward. Crossing the Volga, Vladimir mustered a new army, which was encircled and totally annihilated by the Mongols in the Battle of the Sit River on 4 March.[citation needed]
And the Tartars took the town [of Ryazan] on December 21... They likewise killed the [Prince] and Knyaginya, and men, women and children, monks, nuns and priests, some by fire, some by the sword and violated nuns, priests' wives, good women and girls in the presence of their mothers and sisters.
Novgorod Chronicle
Thereupon Batu Khan divided his army into smaller units, which ransacked fourteen cities of northeastern Rus':
While
The Mongols approach on Kiev in November 1240 apparently made a grim impression upon its defenders. The chronicler writes: “And nothing could be heard above the squeaking of his carts, the bawling of his [Batu’s] innumerable camels, and the neighing of his herds of horses, and the Land of Rus’ was full of enemies." After many days of
Batu Khan's forces went on to ravage much of
Age of Mongol rule
The former Rus' principalities became part of the Jochid appanage ruled by Batu. Batu sited a semi-nomadic capital, called Sarai or Sarai Batu (Batu's Palaces), on the lower Volga. The Jochid appanage came to be known as the Golden Horde. For the next three hundred years, all of the Rus' states, including Novgorod, Smolensk, Galich and Pskov, submitted to Mongol rule,[19] except for the Principality of Polotsk.[citation needed]
After Mongol and Turco-Mongol suzerainty was fought off, this period of rule by the Golden Horde is commonly referred to negatively by Russian historiography as the Mongol or Tatar "yoke". The Golden Horde Tartars instituted census, taxes, and tributes on the conquered lands, which were usually collected by local princes and brought to Sarai.[citation needed]
In the 14th and 15th centuries, with the rise of the
Impact on development
They (the Mongols) attacked Rus', where they made great havoc, destroying cities and fortresses and slaughtering men; and they laid siege to Kiev, the capital of Rus'; after they had besieged the city for a long time, they took it and put the inhabitants to death. When we were journeying through that land we came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. Kiev had been a very large and thickly populated town, but now it has been reduced almost to nothing, for there are at the present time scarce two hundred houses there and the inhabitants are kept in complete slavery.[20]
The influence of the Mongol invasion on the territories of Kievan Rus' was uneven.[21] Colin McEvedy (Atlas of World Population History, 1978) estimates the population of Kievan Rus' dropped from 7.5 million prior to the invasion to 7 million afterwards.[22] Centres such as Kiev took centuries to rebuild and recover from the devastation of the initial attack. The Novgorod Republic continued to prosper, and new entities, the rival cities of Moscow[21] and Tver,[citation needed] began to flourish under the Mongols.[21]
Moscow's eventual dominance of northern and eastern Rus' was in large part attributable to the Mongols. After the prince of Tver
As such, the Muscovite prince became the chief intermediary between the Mongol overlords and the Rus' lands, which paid further dividends for Moscow's rulers. While the Mongols often raided other areas of Rus', they tended to respect the lands controlled by their principal collaborator. This, in turn, attracted nobles and their servants who sought to settle in the relatively secure and peaceful Moscow lands.[21]
Although Rus' forces defeated the Golden Horde at the
Historians argued[by whom?] that without the Mongol destruction of Kievan Rus', the Rus' would not have unified into the Tsardom of Russia and, subsequently, the Russian Empire would not have risen. Trade routes with the East went through Rus' territory, making them a center of trade between east and west. Mongol influence, while destructive to their enemies, had a significant long-term effect on the rise of modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.[24]
Decline of cities
The invasion had significant consequences for the Kievan Rus'. Many cities and fortified points were wiped out, with only a fraction surviving. The once flourishing cities of Kiev,
The decline of cities was also accompanied by a decline in culture, crafts, and trade. The pre-Mongol period was considered the heyday of culture, crafts, and trade in Ancient Rus', but after the invasion, many cities fell into decay, and stone construction was halted for a long time. Economic ties between cities and surrounding villages were severed, and it took more than 100 years for Russian cities to recover from the invasion of Batu Khan and its consequences.[26]
The destruction of cities and the decline in culture and economy had long-term consequences for Russia. The country was left behind in terms of economic development, and it took centuries for it to catch up with the rest of Europe. The Mongol-Tatar invasion also had a significant impact on Russia's political development, as it paved the way for the emergence of the centralized Moscow state, which gradually absorbed other principalities and became the dominant power in Russia. Overall, the invasion of Batu Khan had a profound and lasting impact on the history of Russia.[citation needed]
Economical setbacks
Stone construction in Russian cities practically ceased for several decades. The production of complex crafts, such as glass jewelry, cloisonne enamel, niello, granulation, and polychrome glazed ceramics stopped. As a result, the Russian handicraft industry regressed several centuries, while the guild industry in the West progressed to the era of primitive accumulation. The Russian handicraft industry had to reacquire the gains that had been made before the invasion.[27]
Population migration
As a result of the invasion many people were forced to flee in front of the advancing tumens of Batu, and in North-Eastern Rus', residents of the Vladimir-Suzdal and Ryazan principalities sought refuge in more northern lands beyond the Volga. Others fled to sparsely populated areas, taking refuge in dense forests. However, after the departure of the Mongol-Tatars, most of them returned to their former places of residence.
In fact, just a year after the fall of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the number of returnees was so great that Prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich was able to gather a large army among them for a campaign against the Lithuanians. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of South Russia's principalities, such as Kiev, Pereyaslav, and Chernigov, fled to North-Eastern Russia immediately after the invasion.[28]
However, this was not the end of population migrations. Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereslavl-Zalessky, and other cities of North-Eastern Rus' were repeatedly targeted by Mongol-Tatar campaigns in the second half of the 13th century. As a result, many of their inhabitants gradually moved either to the vicinity of Moscow and Tver, or to the north in regions such as Yaroslavl, Galich, Veliky Ustyug, and more.[citation needed]
Influence on society
Historians have debated the long-term influence of Mongol rule on Rus' society.
The period of Mongol rule over the former Rus' polities included significant cultural and interpersonal contacts between the Slavic and Mongolian ruling classes. By 1450, the Tatar language had become fashionable in the court of the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasily II, who was accused of excessive love of the Tatars and their speech, and many Russian noblemen adopted Tatar surnames (for example, a member of the Veliamanov family adopted the Turkic name "Aksak" and his descendants were the Aksakovs).[30]
Many Russian boyar (noble) families traced their descent from the Mongols or Tatars, including Veliaminov-Zernov, Godunov, Arseniev, Bakhmetev, Bulgakov (descendants of Bulgak) and Chaadaev (descendants of Genghis Khan's son Chagatai Khan). In a survey of Russian noble families of the 17th century, over 15% of the Russian noble families had Tatar or Oriental origins.[31]
The Mongols brought about changes in the economic power of states and overall trade. In the religious sphere, St. Paphnutius of Borovsk was the grandson of a Mongol baskak, or tax collector, while a nephew of Khan Bergai of the Golden Horde converted to Christianity and became known as the monk St. Peter Tsarevich of the Horde.[32]
In the judicial sphere, under Mongol influence capital punishment, which during the times of Kievan Rus' had only been applied to slaves, became widespread, and the use of torture became a regular part of criminal procedure. Specific punishments introduced in Moscow included beheading for alleged traitors and branding of thieves (with execution for a third arrest).[33]
Historiography
The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' left a deep mark on Russian historiography.[citation needed]
According to Charles J. Halperin (2011), Fomenko and Nosovskii's popular pseudohistorical Novaia khronologiia (New Chronology), which received some attention in the early 1980s, arose out of "the dilemma of the Mongol conquest in Russian historiography": embarrassment among defensive Russian nationalists who object to "Russophobic" arguments that Russia acquired "barbarian" customs, institutions, and culture from uncivilized nomads.[34]
See also
- List of battles of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'
- List of wars involving Kievan Rus'
- Mongol invasions of Durdzuketia
References
- ^ ISBN 9780465050918.
- ^ a b "Rusland §2. Het Rijk van Kiëv". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 2002.
- ^ a b Halperin 1987, p. 99.
- ISBN 978-1-62894-281-1.
- ^ "The Mongol Invasion of Russia in the 13th Century | Study.com". Study.com. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ a b c Douglas, Robert Kennaway; Jülg, Bernhard (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 712–721. . In
- ISBN 5-02-009795-0.
- ISBN 966-02-1683-1.
- ^ Michell, Robert; Forbes, Nevell (1914). "The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016–1471". Michell. London, Offices of the society. p. 64. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Zharko SB, Martynyuk AV. "История восточных славян. Монгольское нашествие на Русь" [History of the Eastern Slavs. Mongol invasion of Russia]. Belarusian State University.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ May, Timothy (1 November 2018). "Genghis Khan's Secrets of Success". HistoryNet. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
- ^ Majorov 2017, p. 88.
- ^ Majorov 2017, p. 86.
- ^ a b Majorov 2017, p. 87.
- ^ Majorov 2017, p. 89.
- ^ "The Novgorod Chronicle: Selected Annals". www.sourcebooks.fordham.edu. Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.
- ISBN 9780874210262. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
The Mongols invaded the Russian steppes at this time, reaching the Crimea before turning back at the Khan's orders. The youngest son of Genghis, Tului, was given the special task of destroying walled cities during this campaign, employing the Chinese engines
- ^ Frank McLynn, Kublia Khan (2015).
- ^ Henry Smith Williams The Historians' History of the World, p.654
- ^ "The Destruction of Kiev". Tspace.library.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
- ^ OCLC 36351361. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ Colin McEvedy, Atlas of World Population History (1978)
- ^ a b Richard Pipes. (1995). Russia Under the Old Regime. New York: Penguin Books. pp. 61–62
- ^ "The Consequences of Mongolian Invasion". russia.rin.ru. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "Археологические исследования показали, что Свислочь в 100 км юго-восточнее Минска была подвергнута монгольскому нашествию 1237—1240 годов" [Archaeological studies have shown that Svisloch, 100 km southeast of Minsk, was subjected to the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240.]. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ISBN 5-7107-3010-6.
- ^ Rybakov, Boris. "Ремесло Древней Руси" [Craft of Ancient Rus]. Bohemia Digital library: 525–533.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 978-5-9533-0366-8.
- ^ See Ostrowski, page 47.
- ^ Vernadsky, George. (1970). The Mongols and Russia. A History of Russia, Vol. III. New Haven: Yale University Press pp. 382–385.
- House of Rurikand 42 were of unspecified "Russian" origin.
- ^ Website of the Orthodox Church calendar, accessed 6 July 2008
- ^ Vernadsky, George. (1970). The Mongols and Russia. A History of Russia, Vol. III. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 354–357
- . Retrieved 15 June 2016.
Primary sources
- Full Collection of Russian Annals, St. Petersburg, 1908 and Moscow, 2001, ISBN 5-94457-011-3.
Further reading
- ISBN 9780521602709.
- Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire (2004)
- Christian, David. A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia Vol. 1: Inner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire (Blackwell, 1998)
- Halperin, Charles J. (1987). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. p. 222. ISBN 9781850430575. E-book.
- Majorov, Alexander (2017), The Conquest of Russian Lands in 1237-1240
- Sinor, Denis. "The Mongols in the West." Journal of Asian History (1999): 1-44. JSTOR 41933117.
- Vernadsky, George. The Mongols and Russia (Yale University Press, 1953)
- Halperin, Charles J. "George Vernadsky, Eurasianism, the Mongols, and Russia". Slavic Review (1982): 477–493. JSTOR 2497020.
- Halperin, Charles J. "George Vernadsky, Eurasianism, the Mongols, and Russia". Slavic Review (1982): 477–493.
External links
- Media related to Mongol invasion of Rus at Wikimedia Commons