Mongol invasion of Russia |
The Mongol invasion of Rus' was an invasion of the early Ruthenian state Kievan Rus' by a large army of nomadic
Mongols, starting in 1223. The invasion
precipitated the breakup of Kievan Rus' and contributed to the development of Muscovy, the predecessor of Russia.
As it was undergoing fragmentation, Kievan Rus' faced its greatest threat from invading Mongols. In 1223 an army from Kievan
Rus', together with a force of Turkic Polovtsians, faced a Mongol raiding party at the Kalka
River. The Kievan alliance was defeated soundly. Then in 1237-1238 (after conquering of Volga Bulgaria in 1236), a
much larger Mongol force overran much of Kievan Rus'. In 1240 the Mongols sacked the city
of Kiev and then moved west into Poland and
Hungary. Of the principalities of Kievan Rus', only the Republic of Novgorod escaped occupation, but it paid tribute to the Mongols. One branch of the Mongol
force withdrew to Saray on the lower Volga River, establishing the Golden Horde. From Saray,
the Golden Horde Mongols ruled Kievan Rus' indirectly through their princes and tax collectors.
The influence of the Mongol invasion on the territories of Kievan Rus' was uneven. Centers such as Kiev never recovered from
the devastation of the initial attack. The Republic of Novgorod continued to prosper, however, and a new entity, the city of
Moscow, began to flourish under the Mongols. Although a Ruthenian army defeated the
Golden Horde at Kulikovo in 1380, Mongol
domination of the Ruthenian-inhabited territories, along with demands of tribute from Ruthenian princes, continued until about
1480.
Historians have debated the long-term influence of Mongol rule on Russian society. The Mongols have been blamed for the
destruction of Kievan Rus', the breakup of the Ruthenian nationality into three components, and the introduction of the
concept of "oriental despotism" into Russia. But most historians agree that Kievan Rus' was not a homogeneous political,
cultural, or ethnic entity and that the Mongols merely accelerated a fragmentation that had begun before the invasion. Historians
also credit the Mongol regime with an important role in the development of Muscovy as
a state. Under Mongol occupation, for example, Muscovy developed its postal road network,
census, fiscal system, and military organization.
Kievan Rus' also left a powerful legacy. The leader of the Rurik
Dynasty united a large territory inhabited by East Slavs into
an important, albeit unstable, state. After Vladimir accepted Eastern
Orthodoxy, Kievan Rus' came together under a church structure and developed a Byzantine-Slavic synthesis in culture, statecraft, and the arts. On the northeastern periphery of Kievan Rus',
those traditions were adapted to form the Russian autocratic state.
See also
References
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