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Video: Perhaps the battle on the Kulikovo field rallied the Horde, prolonging the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Russians usually associate the Battle of Kulikovo with the liberation of Rus from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Without diminishing the merits of Prince Dmitry Donskoy, we note that this is not entirely true - for several decades after that, Russia paid tribute to the Tatar khans.
In 1359, the Tatar nobleman Kulpa killed the eighth khan of the Golden Horde, Berdibek. After that, the Horde began a period known as the "Great Jam". At one time, Berdibek ordered to kill 12 relatives who could claim the throne. Therefore, when Kulpa declared himself the khan of the Horde, there were almost no legitimate contenders from the clan of Genghis Khan to the throne. However, this did not promise an easy life for the impostor. The son-in-law of the murdered Berdibek, the temnik Mamai, decided to avenge his wife's father, and at the same time become the ruler of the Horde. And he almost succeeded.
Imposter Khan
In 1360, Kulpa and his two sons were killed, and Mamai proclaimed his protege Abdullah (Ab-Dullah) from the Batuid clan as khan. The cowardly Abdullah was a puppet of Mamai, who could not personally take the throne without being a Chingizid. The former temnik managed to establish himself in the western part of the Golden Horde (from the Crimea to the right bank of the Volga), and during the internecine war in the middle of the 14th century he even captured the capital of the Horde - Sarai.
In 1377, a young contender for the throne of the Horde, Chingizid Tokhtamysh, enlisting the support of Tamerlane, began a war against the Temnik. By the spring of 1380, he seized all the lands up to the Northern Azov region, leaving Mamai only his Polovtsian steppes in the Crimea.
Naturally, the position of Mamai was known to the Russian princes, who skillfully used the internal conflicts in the Horde. In 1374, between Moscow and the Mamayeva Horde, the "great rose-world" began, as a result of which Prince Dmitry Ivanovich refused to pay tribute.
We know about the Battle of Kulikovo, which took place on September 16, 1380, from the ancient Russian chronicles. According to them, the number of Russian troops ranged from two hundred to four hundred thousand soldiers. Modern historians come to the conclusion that the Russian army was much smaller: 6-10 thousand soldiers. The same can be said about the army of Mamai, which was based not on Tatar horsemen and archers, but on mercenaries - the Genoese infantry located in the center. Thus, 15-20 thousand people came together in the battle. However, for that time this was also an impressive figure.
Describing the campaign of Dmitry Donskoy, it is sometimes said that for him it was a matter that required desperate courage. A feat bordering on suicide. However, by that time, the Russians had already successfully fought the Tatars more than once. Back in 1365, Prince Oleg of Ryazan defeated Khan Tagay on the Voida River. And in 1367, Prince of Suzdal Dmitry overthrew the troops of Khan Bulat-Timur at the Piana River. Yes, and Dmitry Ivanovich himself in 1378 defeated the army of Mamai's protege, Murza Begich, in the battle on the Vozha River. By the way, the first two battles mentioned contributed to the establishment of Mamai on the throne of the Western Horde. And Mamai, in turn, did not forget the Russian allies, generously endowing them with "tax benefits". That, on the one hand, increased their status among the Russian princes. On the other hand, it aroused the envy of less successful rivals.
What were you fighting for?
As a result, the regiments of the Lithuanian princes Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich fought on the side of the Moscow army. And on the side of Mamai, they were preparing to march, but did not manage to arrive by the beginning of the battle, the regiments of the Ryazan Prince Oleg. It turns out that Dmitry had Lithuanians (the old enemy of Russia), and Mamai had Russians.
The consequences of the battle are also highly controversial. Instead of a decisive blow to the ridge of the Horde, Dmitry, in fact, helped its consolidation under the rule of another khan, Tokhtamysh. Subsequently, the remnants of Mamai's troops voluntarily accepted the power of Tokhtamysh, and Mamai himself fled.
In 1380 Tokhtamysh sent Dmitry the news of his accession to the Horde and gratitude for the defeat of Mamai. Also, the ambassadors informed Dmitry that now that the Horde is strong again, he will have to pay tribute, as before. The Moscow prince proudly replied that he was no longer submissive to the khan, and did not want to pay tribute. The retribution followed immediately.
In 1382 Tokhtamysh besieged and took Moscow, completely plundering the city and killing 2/3 of the population. In addition, Vladimir, Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk, Yuryev, Kolomna and Pereyaslavl were looted and partially burned.
A year later, Dmitry Donskoy sent his son Vasily to Tokhtamysh with a tribute, and the lowest asked him to receive a label for reign. So, despite the success of the Battle of Kulikovo, the Horde recovered its positions almost immediately. It turns out that, apart from demonstrating the valor of Russian soldiers, the battle on the Kulikovo field did not bring any success to Russia.
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