North-eastern Russia and the Golden Horde (1246-1359)
JANET MARTIN
On the eve of the Mongol invasion two institutions had given definition to Kievan Rus'. One was the ruling Riurikid dynasty, whose senior prince ruled Kiev The other was the Orthodox Christian Church headed by the metropolitan, also based at Kiev Although the component principalities of Kievan Rus' had multiplied and had become the hereditary domains of separate branches of the dynasty, subjecting the state to centrifugal pressures, they all recognised Kiev as the symbolic political and ecclesiastic centre of a common realm and were bound together by dynastic, political, cultural and commercial ties.
The principality that comprised the north-eastern territories of Kievan Rus' was Vladimir, also known as Suzdalia, Rostov-Suzdal', and Vladimir-Suzdal'. Centred around the upper Volga and Oka River basins, its territories were bounded by Novgorod to the north and west, Smolensk to the south-west, and Chernigov and Riazan' to the south. The eastern frontier of Vladimir- Suzdal' stretched to Nizhnii Novgorod on the Volga; beyond lay lands and peoples subject to the Volga Bulgars.
Vladimir-Suzdal' was the realm of the branch of the dynasty descended from Iurii Dolgorukii (1149-57) and his son Vsevolod 'Big Nest' (1176-1212). When the Mongols invaded the Russian lands, Vsevolod's son Iurii, the eldest member of the senior generation of this branch of the dynasty, was recognised, according to principles common to all the principalities of Kievan Rus', as the senior prince of his branch of the dynasty. He was, therefore, the grand prince of Vladimir. Despite his detachment from Kievan politics, the legitimacy of Iurii's rule in Vladimir derived from his place in the dynasty. The sovereignty of the Riurikid dynasty extended to Vladimir and defined it politically as an integral part of Kievan Rus'.
Vsevolod's descendants also ruled in other towns and districts of the principality, which had begun a process of subdivision before the Mongol invasion. Prince Vsevolod had assigned the city and region of Rostov to his son Konstantin; when Konstantin died in 1218, Rostov and its associated towns became the inheritance of his descendants.[1] In 1238, it was ruled by Vasil'ko Konstantinovich (d. 1238).[2] At least half a dozen principalities had been defined in north-eastern Russia, but with the exception of Rostov they had not become the patrimonies of particular branches of the dynasty. They remained attached to the grand principality and were, accordingly, periodically distributed by princes of Vladimir to their relatives.[3]
Affiliation with the Orthodox Church also defined the principality of Vladimir as a component of Kievan Rus'. Until the early thirteenth century the bishop of Rostov was the ecclesiastical leader of the population of the principality of Vladimir. In 1214, while Konstantin, the prince of Rostov, and his younger brother Iurii, appointed prince of Vladimir by their father, were engaged in a dispute over the throne of Vladimir, the eparchy was divided. The bishop of Rostov retained his authority over Rostov, Pereiaslavl', Uglich and Iaroslavl'. But a second bishop, based in the city of Vladimir, assumed ecclesiastical authority over Vladimir, Suzdal' and a series of associated towns.[4] Both bishoprics remained within the larger Russian Orthodox Church, headed by the metropolitan of Kiev.
The Mongol invasion did not immediately destroy the heritage left by Kievan Rus'. The two institutions, the Riurikid dynasty and the Orthodox Church that had given identity and cohesion to Kievan Rus', continued to dominate north-eastern Russia politically and ecclesiastically. But over the next century dynastic, political relations within north-eastern Russia altered under the impact of Golden Horde suzerainty. The lingering bonds connecting north-eastern Russia with Kiev and the south-western principalities loosened in the decades after the Mongol onslaught. North-eastern Russia separated from the south-western principalities of Kievan Rus' while the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal' fragmented into numerous, smaller principalities. During the fourteenth century, furthermore, the Moscow branch of the dynasty, the heirs of Daniil Aleksandrovich, emerged as victors in the competition among the princes for Mongol favour and domestic power. Their political ascendancy violated the dynastic traditions, also inherited from the Kievan era, that had determined dynastic seniority and defined a pattern of lateral succession to the position of prince of Vladimir. In their quest for substitute bases of support and legitimacy the Moscow princes leaned heavily on their Mongol patrons. They also began processes of aggrandising territory, securing dynastic alliances and nurturing ties with the Church that served to secure their hold on the leading political position in north-eastern Russia, the grand prince of Vladimir. These processes also laid the foundations for the state of Muscovy.
Demographic and economic dislocation
The Mongol invasion had a severe impact on the society and economy of north-eastern Russia. During the three-month winter campaign of 1237-8, the city of Vladimir was besieged and burned, and Suzdal' was sacked. Rostov, another of the main cities of the region, as well as Tver', Moscow and a series of other towns, were also listed among those subjected to direct attack.[5] The surrender of towns and defeat of the north-eastern Russian armies did not end the Mongol military assaults. During the quartercentury following the initial invasion, the Mongols conducted fourteen more campaigns against northeastern Russia. The Golden Horde khans continued to send expeditionary forces, often in the company of Russian princes and at times at the Russian princes' request, into the region. The campaigns tapered off only after the late 1320s.[6]
The military campaigns took a heavy toll on the Russian population. Princes and commoners, urban and rural residents were killed or taken captive. Iurii Vsevolodich of Vladimir and Vasil'ko Konstantinovich of Rostov were among the numerous princes killed during the 1238 campaign.[7] Although population figures are unknown, George Vernadsky estimated that at least 10 per cent of the Russian population died or was taken captive during the invasion of 1237-40.[8] In north-eastern Russia the cumulative result of repeated military incursions was similarly a marked reduction in the size of the population. This effect was compounded by the Mongol khans' demands for human services. Russian princes took part in Mongol military campaigns; commoners were also drafted for military service. Skilled artisans and unskilled labourers were conscripted to participate in the construction of Sarai, the capital city of the Golden Horde built by Khan Baty on a tributary of the lower Volga River. They also contributed to the construction of New Sarai, which was located about seventy-seven miles upstream and replaced Sarai as the Golden Horde capital in the early I340s. Russian craftsmen were relocated to Sarai also to manufacture goods for its residents and markets. They were sent for similar purposes as far as Karakorum and China.[9]
The Mongol invasion not only depleted the population of north-eastern Russia. It resulted as well in the subordination of the region to Juchi's ulus, known also as the Kipchak Khanate or, more commonly, as the Golden Horde, which formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire. The khans of the Golden Horde required the Russian princes to recognise their suzerainty. They also demanded tribute in kind and, by the fourteenth century, in silver from the Russian populace. Mongol administrative agents, known as baskaki, were stationed with military contingents in selected north-eastern Russian towns to oversee tax collection and ensure compliance with the khans' decrees.[10] The tribute or vykhod, which may have been collected on an annual basis, has been estimated to have reached 5,000 silver roubles per year by I389, the first year for which calculations are possible; it may have been even larger in earlier decades.[11] That amount has been interpreted as a drain on the economy of northern Russia and a hindrance to its economic development.12
1
2
Fennell,
3
V A. Kuchkin,
4
YaroslavNikolaevich Shchapov,
5
6
8
George Vernadsky,
9
Langer, 'The Medieval Russian Town', p. 23; Thomas T. Allsen, 'Ever Closer Encounters: The Appropriation of Culture and the Apportionment ofPeoples in the Mongol Empire',
10
Vernadsky,
11
Michel Roublev, 'The Mongol Tribute According to the Wills and Agreements of the Russian Princes', in Michael Cherniavsky (ed.),