Russia and the Golden Horde

 This is Charles Halperin's study of the Mongol impact on medieval Russian History. When I was researching my latest book, which includes the Russian colonisation of the steppe, the background reading suggested that this long relationship with the Mongols and then the Tatars had a greater impact on Russian society than traditional Russian historiography implied. I was therefore happy to spot this 1987 book in a secondhand bookshop.

Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the northeastern Slavic principalities (future Russia) were under the political dominance of the Golden Horde, a western division of the Mongol Empire established by Batu Khan. The Golden Horde did not rule Russia directly; instead, they appointed local princes and collected tribute. Frequent Mongol military campaigns shaped Russian military organisation, fortification patterns, governance, and trade and administration. The Horde fragmented in the 14th–15th centuries, and Dmitry Donskoy’s victory at the Battle of Kulikovo (1380) weakened Mongol authority. Ivan III’s stand at the Ugra River (1480) ended tribute obligation, and is seen as the end of Mongol domination.

The author starts with a narrative of the Mongol conquest and how they managed the principalities that would become Russia. He argues that they didn't instigate direct rule as they did in China and Persia because Russia had little to offer them. Patriotic historians overplayed the role of princes who resisted, while the vast majority collaborated. This is a pattern we see in other parts of Eastern Europe as well. This shouldn't be a surprise, as the Slavic states had been trading, intermarrying and allying themselves with the steppe tribes for centuries before the Mongols arrived. 

Medieval historians, when faced with defeat by non-Christian foes, could choose to accept that the Christian god was not omnipotent, unthinkable for most, or accept that it was God's will, punishing them. Russian historians did neither; they just ignored them. Although the author identifies many examples in Russian histories where they displayed more knowledge than they cared to admit.

They later blamed the Mongols for Russia's backwardness, though there is little evidence to support that claim. Absolutism arose from domestic considerations, drawing more from Byzantium than the Mongols. Plenty of Tatar blood entered the Russian aristocracy through marriage, possibly as high as 20 per cent. Many Russian names have Tatar provenance. 

The author concludes that Russia's ideology of silence means the historical record must be interpreted with great care. Russia in this period did not live in splendid isolation; they were profoundly influenced by its Mongol overlords and near neighbours. This book succeeds in raising that curtain.

Some of my 28mm Mongols