HIST 2600 Lecture 5: HISTORY OF RUSSIA LECTURE 5
23 Feb 2017
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HISTORY OF RUSSIA – LECTURE 5
The Mongol Yoke, 1240-1480
• Rise and fall of Kievan Rus last week
• Kiev fell due to it’s own internal weaknesses, and Mongols simply finished
them off
MONGOL INVASIONS
• First invasion led by Jenghis Khan
• One of history’s greatest military leaders
• Born in far east in 1162 in (something) valley
• Started as a small chieftain, but eventually brought together all the nomadic
tribes of Siberia
• Conquered northern China to the great wall and much of Europe
• 1223, headed to invade Russia like many before him
• Chose a different route than other peoples
• Instead of gap between Urals and Caspian, took the route around the Caspian
Sea and through the Caucasus
• Cumans of that area caught by surprise and asked for help from the Slavic
princes
• Slavs did come and help but it did no good
• Battle of Kalka River was their battle in 1223 and defeated the Russian forces
• Russians surrendered when the battle was losing
• Princes thought they would be ransomed, but were instead tortured by the
Mongol forces (it is said they were used as the legs of their banquet table
• After this battle the Mongols disappeared for 13 years and went to other side
of the Urals
• Genghis Khan died in 1225 and was succeeded by Ugedei Khan
• He appointed Batu Khan to lead the second invasion of Russia
• Crossed Urals in 1237 at the head of an army of 175,000 men (at this time
population of Russia was approx.. 7 million)
• Ruthless and comprised mostly of cavalry
• Disciplined soldiers, as opposed to Crusade soldiers
• He came to stay: army of occupation
• Overran the Volga Bulgars and ran into Russia unopposed
• Captured Moscow, Suzdal, and many other places
• Novgorod was unnoticed by them
• Because of internal weaknesses, princes of Russia could not offer any
resistance
• Grand Prince, Yuri, fled when he heard the Mongols were approaching,
leaving his family and city to be slaughtered (captured and killed the next
year)
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• Afterwards, Batu Khan decided to rest his army for 2 years in the southern
steppe
• 1240, moved into heartland of Kievan Rus (present day Ukraine)
• captured Kiev easily and leveled the city
• Papal legate reported seeing skulls and bodies still lying in the streets
• Only 200 houses remained at the end
• Never fully recovered as the head of Russia
• Afterwards, invaded central Europe as far as Liepzeig and went south as far
as the Adriatic, threatening Vienna(?)
• Ugedei Khan had died at this point back in Eastern Siberia, and Batu Khan
wanted to return to the capital of the Mongols as he thought he could succeed
him
• This saved western Europe from invasion and occupation
• Did not save Russia: they retreated to the southern steppe and decided to
stay
ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOLDEN HORDE
• For 200 years, Russia was occupied by the Mongol yoke.
• 2 parts: Golden Horde and Appanage Russia
• run by the Mongols and occupied by them
• capital set on Volga at Sarai
• Appanage Russia
• Subordinated to and dominated by the Mongols, but not run by them:
different city states of Russian princes
• Most of western and northern Russia
• Comparable to France during World War II: split by Nazis after invasion
• Princes of west and north Russia were puppet s of the Khan
• Were more affected by the Mongol yoke than the masses were
• Each prince had to have a iarlyk (decree) to declare their rule of a city,
originally only given by the Great Khan in China, but eventually just had to go
to Sarai
• Just based off who was liked more and who gave best gift
• Princes often travelled to Sarai to ask for the Khans assistance and advice
• To gain his favour, princes would marry daughters of the Khan
• Because of this, 17% of the upper-class of Moscow has Mongol blood
• Khan was mostly interested in the revenue he could get from Appanage
Russia
• Started the first census in Russia to see how much money he should get from
the cities
• Mongol tax collectors – bashaks – would collect a head tax and took people
off to slavery if they could not pay
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
