Many people believe that the Mongol Tatar invaded Russia when it was a unified nation. However, this is a misconception. The Russian state was only truly formed in response to that invasion, resisting and overthrowing Mongol dominance. It was Peter the Great who officially ended the tribute that Russians had to pay to the Mongol Khans.
Prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir was poisoned by the wife of Khan Guyuk. At the age of 67, Prince Mikhail of Chernigov was executed in the capital of the Golden Horde because he refused to worship the Mongol symbols. Prince Mikhail of Tver had his heart ripped out in the same city.
The Russian people were forced to pay heavy tributes, while Russian princes were only allowed to rule their duchies with the permission of the Khan of the Golden Horde. This was how the Mongol Empire governed the Russian groups.
A painting depicting a Russian prince kneeling before Khan Batu to plead for mercy, preserved in the Russian National Library. (Photo: Getty Images).
The real story (though hard to believe) is that these events spurred the formation of a unified Russian state.
Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin (1766-1826) wrote: “Moscow attained greatness thanks to the Khans.”
At the time of the Mongol invasion of Russian lands, the Mongols had made significant advancements in both military and administrative systems. Only through unity could the Russians overthrow Mongol rule.
What prompted the Mongolian invasion of Russian lands?
Genghis Khan (1155-1227), the founder of the Mongol Empire, sent his son Jochi (1182-1227) to conquer territories that are now Siberia, Central Russia, and Eastern Europe. The massive armies of Mongol warriors (over 100,000 troops—a large number for the 13th century) easily defeated the small military forces of the Russian princes who were already at war with each other before the Mongol invasion.
In 1237, Mongol troops led by Khan Batu invaded “Rus” (a loose federation of several tribes on the territory of present-day Russia). The Mongols plundered, devastated, and burned all the major Russian cities. The invasion lasted until 1242 and was a severe blow to the Russian territories. It took nearly 100 years for the Russian lands to fully recover from the damage caused by the Mongol army. Southern Russian lands and cities like Kiev, Chernigov, and Halych were completely annihilated. The northern and eastern regions, especially Tver, Moscow, Vladimir, and Suzdal, emerged as major cities after the Mongol invasion.
However, the Mongols did not aim to completely conquer these Russian lands; they only wanted a stable source of tribute. And they knew how to achieve this goal.
How effective was Mongol rule?
In 1243, Prince Yaroslav II of Vladimir became the first Russian prince to be allowed to rule—he was summoned to meet Khan Batu, swore allegiance to him, and was referred to as “the greatest prince of all Rus.”
The oath of allegiance to the Mongols closely resembled a French ritual. Notably, Russian princes sometimes had to approach the Khan’s throne on their knees and were generally treated as inferiors.
A significant aspect of Mongol rule was the protection of Russian Orthodox churches; they never destroyed churches and ensured the safety of Russian clergy.
The Mongols had tax collectors residing in Russian cities—these individuals were the frontline for collecting and controlling the tribute. The Mongols conducted censuses in the duchies they ruled to facilitate tribute collection.
Initially, the tribute was sent to the Mongol Empire. After 1266, when the “Golden Horde” of the Tatar-Mongols separated from this empire, the tributes were sent to the capital Saray of the Golden Horde. It was only after many rebellions and the pleas of Russian princes that the collection of tributes was transferred to the Russian princes themselves.
The Russians sought to exploit the Mongols
In reality, the Mongols never maintained a standing army in Russian lands. But if the Russians revolted against Mongol rule, Mongol troops would be quickly mobilized to suppress them.
The cunning and politically savvy Mongol Khans manipulated the Russians, inciting hatred and warfare among them so that the Mongols could easily control the weak and divided principalities.
However, over time, the Russian princes discovered this trick of the Mongols and began to “turn the tables.”
For a century, countless military campaigns occurred between the Mongols and the Russians. In 1328, the principality of Tver rose up against the Mongols, killing a relative of Khan Uzbek. Tver was burned and destroyed by the Golden Horde, notably with the assistance of the Moscow and Suzdal princes.
In the conflicts between the principalities, the Moscow princes understood the necessity of having someone lead the confrontation with the Mongols, by compelling other princes to submit to them. After the fall of Tver, Ivan I “Kalita” of Moscow became the first prince to collect tribute from Russian lands on behalf of the Mongols—this was a reward from the Mongols for aiding in the killing of his fellow countrymen (but who were still his enemies).
This assistance from Ivan I “Kalita” led to the famous “40 years of peace,” during which the Mongols did not attack Moscovite lands but only devastated other principalities. Moscow took advantage of the failures of other princes to benefit itself.
The Russians quickly learned valuable lessons from the Mongols, such as written contracts and the yam system of relay stations—originally implemented by Genghis Khan for various purposes, including temporary lodging for travelers and stabling spare horses for military messengers. This system was established by the Mongols in Russian territories to serve them but was eventually utilized by the Russians themselves to connect vast territories.
How did Mongol rule collapse?
What the Moscow princes learned from the ruthless Mongols was that they either had to kill their enemies or incapacitate them so they could not retaliate.
As the Moscow princes grew stronger, the Golden Horde fell into a political crisis.
In 1378, Prince Dmitry of Moscow, also known as Donskoy (1350-1389), crushed an army of the Golden Horde for the first time in a long while.
In 1380, Dmitry Donskoy, after ceasing to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, defeated the army of Khan Mamay (which numbered between 60,000 and 110,000 troops) in the Battle of Kulikovo—this victory exhilarated the people of all Russian lands.
However, in 1382, Tokhtamysh—another Khan of the Golden Horde—returned and burned Moscow to the ground.
For about the next 100 years, the Russian lands had to occasionally pay tribute to various Khans of the Golden Horde. But in 1472, Ivan the Great of Moscow (1440-1505) once again refused to pay tribute to the Mongol Tatars. This time, the Grand Duchy of Moscow had truly become immense. Ivan and his father had gathered lands and princes, forcing them to submit to Moscow.
Ahmed bin Kuchuk, Khan of the Golden Horde, launched a war against Ivan. However, after the famous confrontation at the Ugra River in 1480, Ahmed had to retreat to his homeland. This battle marked the end of Mongol rule and control over Russia, although tribute payments continued. Russia continued to send money and valuable goods to various regions of the Golden Horde to maintain peace with the Tatar warriors.
Russia paid tribute to many dynasties of the Golden Horde until 1685.
According to the Treaty of Constantinople between the Russian Tsardom and the Ottoman Empire, tribute payments were officially prohibited by Peter the Great in 1700. The Khan of Crimea was the last Khan to whom Russia paid tribute.
The treaty was signed by Peter in 1700. Peter was the last great tsar of Moscow and the first Emperor of Russia.
