III. Ruin of small producers Until now we have been dealing with simple commodity production. Now we move on to capitalist production, that is, we assume that instead of simple commodity producers, we have before us, on the one hand, the owner of the means of production, on the other hand,

Two years after the famous Battle of Kulikovo, in August 1382 , new Horde khan, Genghisid Tokhtamysh ruined Moscow, negating almost the entire significance of the victory over Temnik Mamai September 8, 1380 .

I suggest you consider behavior of the main characters this most important event of the 14th century.

Siege of Moscow by Tokhtamysh in 1382
(miniature from the Front Chronicle of the 16th century):

After the defeat of his competitor in the internecine struggle for power - the de facto ruler of most of the Golden Horde, the powerful beklyarbek of the Temnik Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo, Khan Tokhtamysh (reigned 1380 - 1395) managed to stop the process of the Horde's disintegration for some time.

Having finally finished off Mamai in the battle on Kalka, Tokhtamysh sent ambassadors to the Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy to inform him of the victory over the common enemy.
But at the same time, the ambassadors clearly stated to Dmitry that Tokhtamysh, of course, was grateful to him for this victory, that is, in fact, for his help in overcoming the Horde civil strife, which contributed to the restoration of the unity of the Horde, but the due tribute, which Moscow stopped paying after 1380, it is still necessary to pay, since Temnik Mamai was not a khan, but was only a usurper of the khan’s power, but Tokhtamysh, on the contrary, was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, the legitimate ruler of the Horde.

By the way, this difference between the beklyarbek Mamai and Khan Tokhtamysh was well understood in Rus'. So in Russian chronicle sources Mamai is called “filthy prince" , whereas Tokhtamysha - "king" .

The Moscow prince, having handed over “rich gifts” to Tokhtamysh’s ambassadors and “dismissed them with honor,” nevertheless continued to evade paying tribute.
This was quite understandable, since since the time of Ivan Kalita, the collection of the “Horde exit” from all Russian principalities was assigned to the Great Prince of Vladimir, which since 1329 were almost exclusively Moscow princes (except for the short period of Dmitry Ivanovich’s minority - 1359 - 1362, when the label to Vladimir was in the hands of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes). That is, the Moscow prince, continuing to collect the “Horde exit” from all Russian principalities, left him in Moscow, and did not send him to Sarai.

This is exactly what became main reason Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow in 1382 .
As a result sudden invasion and betrayal of the allies The Moscow principality was taken by surprise.

Having ravaged Moscow and surrounding cities and settlements, Tokhtamysh, without waiting major battle, after the first defeat of part of his army near Volok Lamsky, he went back to the Horde.

But the khan achieved his goal. Tributary relations were restored in full, and Dmitry Ivanovich also had to pay arrears for the two years that had passed since Mamai’s defeat.
However, Tokhtamysh was satisfied with this and left the great reign to the princes of Moscow, and when, before his death in 1389, Dmitry Donskoy in his will transferred not only his fatherland - the Principality of Moscow, but also the Principality of Vladimir, to his eldest son Vasily without a khan's label, Tokhtamysh did not object.

Characters two and three - traitors Grand Duke Ryazan Oleg Ivanovich (1350 - 1402 reign) and Grand Duke Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod (1356 - 1383 reign).

Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich enjoyed significant authority among the Russian princes of the second half of the 14th century. Proof of this can be at least the fact that it was he who was invited as an arbitrator to conclude the “final charter” of 1375 by the main rivals in the struggle for the grand-ducal throne - Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and Tver Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich.

But foreign policy situation of the Ryazan principalities a, located “between two fires”- the ever-growing appetites of the Moscow princes, seeking to expand their lands, including at the expense of the neighboring Ryazan ones - on the one hand, and the constant raids of the Horde, from which Ryazan suffered much more than other Russian principalities, which is explained by its location bordering the Horde - with the other was more than difficult. This is precisely what explains the maneuvering policy of Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky.

IN 1377 The Ryazan principality was devastated by the Horde prince Arapshoy , and in 1379 - Mamaem . In order to protect his fatherland from another ruin, Oleg Ryazansky, on the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo, entered into negotiations with the Horde beklyarbek and his ally the Lithuanian prince Jagiello .
The Ryazan boyars also behaved ambiguously: in "Zadonshchina" It is reported that 70 of them died when they fought in the Battle of Kulikovo against Mamai, but at the same time the Ryazan people did not hesitate to rob Moscow convoys returning to Moscow through the Ryazan lands after a difficult victory over Mamai and even capture Moscow soldiers.

IN 1381 Oleg Ryazansky, in the conditions of the weakening of the Horde, bowed his head before Dmitry Donskoy, recognized himself as his “younger brother” (that is, a vassal, if we use the terms of classical feudalism) and concluded an anti-Horde treaty with him.

But a year later, in order to save his lands from ruin, Oleg Ryazansky once again committed betrayal. He helped Tokhtamysh's troops approach Moscow unnoticed, showing them the fords on the Oka.
However, this betrayal of his ally did not help him save his principality. On the way back, Tokhtamysh’s warriors plundered Ryazan.

In the Moscow chronicle tradition, Oleg Ivanovich is considered a traitor and is compared to Svyatopolk the Accursed. But in Ryazan this prince is highly revered. And he even installed majestic monument on the city's Cathedral Square:

But if the betrayal of Oleg Ryazansky finds at least some justification, then the behavior Prince of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Dmitry Konstantinovich is betrayal in its purest form.

During Tokhtamysh’s campaign against Moscow, the possessions of this prince, who also called himself the “younger brother” of Dmitry Donskoy, were not threatened. And yet, he not only did not provide him with military assistance, but on the contrary sent his sons to Tokhtamysh’s army Vasily And Simeon (By the way, brothers of Dmitry Donskoy's wife Evdokia , that is, his brothers-in-law).

When 25 August 1382 The Horde tried to take Moscow by storm, but they didn’t succeed: a recently built fortress (white stone Kremlin), moreover, armed with artillery pieces ( "mattresses" ), could withstand any siege for a long time.

Then the next day Tokhtamysh sent negotiators to the Muscovites, with whom they were Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes Vasily and Simeon Dmitrievich . It was they who assured the Muscovites that the Horde would not besiege the city, since Prince Dmitry Ivanovich himself was not there, but would limit themselves only to gifts. The naive Muscovites, believing the brothers of their princess, opened the gates. The Horde army immediately burst into the Kremlin and carried out a terrible massacre, during which more than half of the residents of Moscow died.

Returning to Moscow, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich ordered to bury the bodies of the dead, giving a ruble for every 80 bodies. A total of 300 rubles were spent on burial. Thus, as a result of simple calculations, it can be established that As a result of the devastation of Moscow by Tokhtamysh, about 24 thousand people died out of the approximately 40 thousand population of the city.

Character fourth - Prince Tverskoy Mikhail Alexandrovich (1368 - 1399 reign).

It is hardly possible to accuse the Tver prince of direct betrayal. This is only possible if we think from the point of view of the need to unite all Russian principalities under the rule of Moscow, which will contradict the principle of historicism, since in the 14th century the role of Moscow as the center of a united Rus' was by no means obvious.

In addition, it must be borne in mind that it was the struggle between the Moscow and Tver princes for primacy in North-Eastern Rus' for most of the 14th century that was the main content political history of that time. Moreover, it is impossible not to notice that from a legal point of view , right to supreme power belonged not to the outcast Moscow princes, but to the Tver princes, who at the beginning of the 14th century turned out to be the only, in accordance with the ancient law of the ladder, legitimate contenders for the great reign of Vladimir.

Yes and from a moral point of view , the Moscow princes behaved simply disgustingly in the fight against the Tver princes (suffice it to recall Yuri Danilovich of Moscow, by whose slander Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy was executed in the Horde in 1318, or Ivan Kalita, also by denunciation to Uzbek Khan, who achieved the execution of Alexander Mikhailovich Tverskoy in 1339 ). Is it any wonder that Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy (the son of Alexander Mikhailovich and the grandson of Mikhail Yaroslavich) hated Moscow, which was ruled by the descendant of the worst enemies of his ancestors, the grandson of Ivan Kalita - Dmitry Donskoy?

And the fact that the Tver prince was an ally of the Lithuanian prince Olgerda in his campaigns against Moscow in 1368 - 1372, there is also nothing surprising (and the Tver prince did not send a single warrior to the Kulikovo field). As well as the fact that, having learned about the invasion of the Moscow principality of Tokhtamysh, he did not provide any support to the Moscow prince. And also that after Moscow was devastated by the Horde, Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy went to the Horde for a label for the great reign , to which he, in accordance with the “ladder”, had an unconditional right.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy goes to the Horde:

But this trip ended in vain for the Tver prince. It was more convenient for Tokhtamysh to conduct business with the Moscow Prince Dmitry, from whom he received everything he wanted, than with an unfamiliar and incomprehensible candidate for the Vladimir reign - Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy. It was after this that Tver finally ceased to be a serious competitor to Moscow.

Character fifth - Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy .

The news of Tokhtamysh's invasion took the Moscow prince by surprise. And he, once again showing cowardice (I will definitely write soon about his behavior during the Battle of Kulikovo, participation in which made him a hero, but in which he actually did not take an active part), fled from Moscow to distant Kostroma, supposedly to collect troops. The Moscow prince abandoned to the mercy of fate the strongest fortress that could withstand a long siege, thereby dooming his subjects to obscurity.

Tokhtamysh’s troops did not reach Kostroma, and this was not in the khan’s plans. So Dmitry Ivanovich, who saved his life at the cost of many thousands of Muscovites, is the main traitor!

Official history still considers Dmitry Donskoy a hero. His image appears on Monument to the "Millennium of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod :

But at the same time in the right hand of the prince not orthodox red banner , with which Russian soldiers went to the Kulikovo field ( "Prince Vladimir Andreevich stood on his bones under the black banner" ), and Tatar (and later Turkish) bunchuk with ponytail and Islamic crescent.

The real winners of the Battle of Kulikovo were the Moscow governor Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky (Volynets) and cousin of Dmitry Ivanovich - appanage Moscow prince Vladimir Andreevich .
And the latter, unlike his older brother, behaved with dignity during the invasion of Tokhtamysh.

Characters fifth and sixth - Vladimir Andreevich Brave, appanage prince of Serpukhov , and led the defense of Moscow after the escape of Dmitry Ivanovich, Lithuanian prince Ostey - real heroes!

Knyazhich Ostey from the Lithuanian Gedeminovich dynasty, the grandson of Olgerd, was in the service of the Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich.
When Tokhtamysh's troops besieged Moscow, the townspeople held a meeting, at which they decided to defend the city to the last.

Preparations for the defense of Moscow in 1382
(painting by A. M. Vasnetsov):

The Moscow Veche, not trusting the local boyars, entrusted the leadership of the defense of Moscow Osteu . And since the Horde failed to take the city by storm, we can conclude that the Lithuanian prince led the defense skillfully. But after believing the persuasion of the traitors - the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes, the Muscovites opened the gates of the Kremlin, Ostey was killed by the Horde who burst into him.
Here he is, of course a real hero!

Prince of Serpukhov Vladimir Andreevich , nicknamed for a reason "Brave" , during the invasion of Tokhtamysh he was in Voloke Lamsky , where he managed to gather significant forces. When Tokhtamysh's troops approached this city, Prince Vladimir gave them a battle, as a result of which the Horde were completely defeated .

After the defeat at Volokolamsk by Vladimir the Brave, Khan Tokhtamysh, without waiting for Dmitry Donskoy to gather the main forces in Kostroma, hastily left the borders of Rus'.

Monument to Prince Vladimir Andreevich the Brave in Serpukhov:

I consider it necessary to erect a monument to the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, in Moscow. Also deserving of separate monuments are the head of the defense of Moscow against Tokhtamysh, the Lithuanian prince Ostey, and the Moscow governor Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky.
But only the Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who did not prove himself a coward both during the Battle of Kulikovo and during the invasion of Tokhtamysh, was called “Donskoy” only due to a misunderstanding created by unscrupulous historians.

Sergey Vorobiev.

Back in the spring of 1380, the ruler of the Kok-Horda, Khan Tokhtamysh, captured the Horde capital Sarai. After the defeat of Mamai on the Kulikovo Field, the princes and Murzas subordinate to him went over to the side of Tokhtamysh, who for the first time since the early 60s. XIV century united the entire territory of the Golden Horde under his rule. Tokhtamysh informed the Russian princes about this, and in the spring of 1381 they sent ambassadors to him “with honor and gifts.” Some researchers believe that by doing so the Russian princes recognized the khan’s power over their lands, others deny this. It is clear, however, that Tokhtamysh was not satisfied with the results of the negotiations, because in the summer of 1382 he launched a large-scale campaign against Moscow.

Tokhtamysh took into account the lessons and took all measures to ensure that his attack was unexpected. He succeeded. Dimitri Ioannovich left the capital and went to Kostroma to gather troops, and soon Metropolitan Cyprian also left the city. On August 23, 1382, the Horde army approached Moscow, and the unsuccessful assault on the city continued for 3 days. Only with the help of deception did the khan manage to occupy and plunder the capital of the Moscow principality. After the capture of the city, Tokhtamysh began to send out his troops throughout the Moscow land. When news reached him that one of the detachments was destroyed by the troops of the prince. Vladimir the Brave near Volok Lamsky, and Dimitri Ioannovich stood in Kostroma with his troops, the khan hastened to withdraw his troops to the Horde, plundering the Ryazan land along the way. After this raid, hesitation began among the princes who had previously recognized the political supremacy of Moscow. Oleg Ryazansky showed the Horde army the secret fords on the Oka. The sons of the Nizhny Novgorod prince Dimitri Konstantinovich - princes Vasily and Semyon - met the Horde army on the border of their father's possessions, then together with him under the walls of the Moscow Kremlin, kissing the cross, they convinced Muscovites to believe Tokhtamysh. At the beginning of September 1382, Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver secretly left for the Horde, trying to again obtain a label for the Great Reign of Vladimir.

In the fall of 1382, the Khan's ambassador arrived to Demetrius Ioannovich, who apparently summoned the Grand Duke to the Horde and reported on the size of the tribute. In the spring of the following year, the Grand Duke sent his 11-year-old son Vasily to Tokhtamysh, along with experienced boyars, who took tribute to the Horde - “8000 silver.” The Khan did not dare to support the claims of the ruler of Tver, and the “great reign” remained with Dimitri Ioannovich. However, this cost the Grand Duke great expenses.

Orthodox Encyclopedia

IN THE SHADOW OF KULIKOVO VICTORY

Events that took place in Moscow-Horde relations in the early 80s of the 14th century. in historiography they have always been in the shadow of the Kulikovo victory. It is traditionally accepted that Tokhtamysh’s successful campaign against Moscow in 1382 restored the dependence of North-Eastern Rus', eliminated under Mamai. Since before Dmitry Ivanovich broke vassal relations with Mamai, dependence on the Horde existed for about 130 years, and after the campaign of Tokhta the Mouse - for almost another hundred, this latter looks with this approach in essence as an event comparable in its consequences to the invasion Batu.

At the very end of 1380, Tokhtamysh sent envoys to Dmitry and other Russian princes, “telling them of his coming and how he reigned, and how Mamai defeated his opponent and their enemy.” In the winter and spring of 1381, the Russian princes, having released the ambassadors “with honor and gifts,” “sent each of their kiliches with many gifts to Tsar Toktamysh”; including Dmitry Ivanovich “released his Kilicheev Tolbuga and Mokhshay to the Horde to the new king with gifts and funeral services.” What did this act mean? Did he testify to the recognition of vassal relations with Tokhtamysh? A.E. gave a positive answer. Presnyakov, B.D. Grekov, L.V. Cherepnin, negative - N.M. Karamzin, A.N. Nasonov, I.B. Grekov. I believe that the sending of “gifts and funerals” meant a statement of the fact of the restoration of legitimate power in the Horde and the formal recognition of Tokhtamysh as overlord. But the Moscow side was not going to raise the issue of paying off the exit debt that had accumulated over the years of confrontation with Mamai (gifts and “memories” are not an option). Obviously, after the defeat of Mamai, Dmitry was in no hurry to restore tributary relations with the Horde, but at the same time he had no reason not to recognize the royal dignity (and therefore the formal supremacy) of the new ruler of the Horde, who, moreover, had just finished off his enemy. The Grand Duke took a wait-and-see attitude, deciding to see how the khan would behave.

In the summer of 1381, the ambassador “Tsarevich” Akhozha went to Rus' with a detachment of 700 people. He reached Nizhny Novgorod “and returned back, but did not dare to go to Moscow.” It is unlikely that Akhozhi’s mission had the goal of summoning the Russian princes to the Horde. It seems that the most natural reason for the appearance of the embassy was that the time had come to get a “exit” for 1380 (in which Tokhtamysh, owning the Trans-Volga part of the Horde, already had the right to consider himself a khan). However, in Nizhny, Akhozha apparently received information that Dmitry Ivanovich was not in the mood to pay tribute, the ambassador returned and reported to Tokhtamysh about the current situation, after which the khan began to prepare for military action. His campaign cannot be regarded as revenge for the defeat of Mamai on the Kulikovo field (although among the former Mamai Tatars who joined the troops of Tokh-Tamysh, such a motive probably took place), since, having defeated the usurper, Dmitry actually rendered (unwittingly, of course) Tokhtamysh did a favor by making it easier for him to come to power, and the khan had nothing to be angry about. Only when Tokhtamysh realized that the Muscovites, inspired by the Kulikovo victory, were not going to fulfill their vassal obligations (despite the fact that the Grand Duke formally recognized the Khan as overlord), he decided to resort to military force to force Dmitry to comply with them.

Tokhtamysh managed to ensure the surprise of the attack. Dmitry Konstantinovich Nizhny Novgorod, having learned about the approach of the khan, sent his sons Vasily (Kirdyapa) and Semyon to him. Oleg Ryazansky showed Tokhtamysh the fords on the Oka. Dmitry Ivanovich left Moscow and went to Kostroma. Tokhtamysh took and burned Serpukhov and approached the capital on August 23, 1382. The defense was led by the Lithuanian prince Ostey, the grandson of Olgerd (he managed to stop the unrest that arose in Moscow after the departure of the Grand Duke). After a three-day unsuccessful siege, Tokhtamysh managed on August 26 to deceive Ostey from the city (the khan’s ambassadors swore that Tokhtamysh was not going to ruin Moscow, that his goal was to find Dmitry; the truth of these words was confirmed by the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod princes who were in the khan’s army ), after which he was killed, and the Tatars broke into Moscow and destroyed it. After this, Tokhtamysh disbanded his troops throughout the Moscow possessions: to Zvenigorod, Volok, Mozhaisk, Yuryev, Dmitrov and Pereyaslavl. But only the last one was taken. The detachment that approached Volok was defeated by Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky, who was there. After this, Tokhtamysh left Moscow and moved home, taking Kolomna along the way. Having crossed the Oka, he devastated the Ryazan land; Oleg Ryazansky fled.

The capture of the enemy's capital is undoubtedly a victory, and Tokhtamysh won the campaign. However, the fact of the ruin of Moscow somewhat obscures the overall picture of the results of the conflict. Tokhtamysh did not defeat Dmitry in open battle, did not dictate terms to him from captured Moscow, on the contrary, he was forced to quickly leave it. In addition to the capital, the Tatars took only Serpukhov, Pereyaslavl and Kolomna. If we compare this list with the list of cities that became victims of Edigei’s campaign in 1408 (then Kolomna, Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Dmitrov, Serpukhov, Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets were taken), it turns out that without taking into account the capture of the capital, the scale of the devastation caused by Tokhtamysh looks smaller . And the events that followed the departure of the khan from the boundaries of the Grand Duchy of Moscow very little resemble a situation in which one side is a triumphant, and the other is a humiliated and defeated loser brought into complete submission.

Gorsky A.A. Moscow and Horde

Of the complex historical events of the early 80s of the 14th century, two were the most important for Moscow: the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 and the destruction of the city by Khan Tokhtamysh, which happened two years later, exactly 633 years ago. MOSLENTA is trying to figure out how these events are connected and how it happened that the great victory of the Russian troops turned into a tragedy for the capital of the Moscow Principality.

Mamai, Tokhtamysh and “The Great Lame”

In order to understand the most complex conflict of that time, it is necessary to briefly look into the Golden Horde, of which the Russian principalities were then formally a part.

The line of descendants of the grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Golden Horde, Khan Batu (Batu, as he was called in Rus'), that ruled in Sarai - the capital of the Golden Horde - dried up in 1359, when the last legal representative of the dynasty, Khan Berdibek, died. From that time on, the period of the “great turmoil” began - twenty years before 1380, 25 khans changed on the throne. The “gray eminence” in this process was the temnik (that is, the commander of the ten-thousandth corps) Mamai, who was not a descendant of the “Shaker of the Universe” Ching Khan and had no rights to the throne. He, in fact, ruled the Horde at that time, but he had influential opponents.

The matter ended in a split - Mamai and his supporters migrated to the Black Sea region and actually separated from the Golden Horde. He appointed Genghisid Mukhhamad-Bullak as “khan” and ruled on his behalf. In other parts of the Mongol Empire, Mamai was not recognized and was considered a traitor. Temnik controlled the Crimea and the Black Sea (Polovtsian) steppes to the mouth of the Volga. The lands to the east were not subject to him. The real rulers of the Golden Horde sitting in Sarai (Khan Urus, his son Toktakia, Timur-Melik) probably could have punished Mamai for separatism, but they had more important concerns - they were pestered by Timur’s protege Tokhtamysh.

Painting by Apollinary Vasnetsov “Defense of Moscow from Khan Tokhtamysh”

Image: ru.wikipedia.org

Unlike Mamai, Tokhtamysh was a real “Genghisid” - a descendant of the great Genghis Khan. In his youth, due to complex court intrigues, he had to flee from Khan Urus to the “lame” Timur (or Tamerlane), who decided to use Tokhtamysh to establish control over the Golden Horde. The entire second half of the seventies was Tokhtamysh’s war against the “legitimate” rulers of the Horde. He was defeated three times, but Tamerlane gave him new troops.

By April 1380, Tokhtamysh took possession of Sarai and all Tatar lands, except for the Mamaev Horde. The clash between Tokhtamysh and Mamai was inevitable, but the Russian prince Dmitry intervened in the matter, having defeated the temnik earlier. True, Mamai soon gathered a new army and went against Tokhtamysh, but the battle did not work out: Mamai’s warriors voluntarily went over to the side of the “legitimate” khan. Mamai fled to Crimea, where he died.

Naturally, the question arose about restoring relations with Russia, and in the next 1381, Tokhtamysh sent “Prince” Akhoja to Dmitry. Previously, while fighting against the common enemy Mamai, the rulers exchanged messages, although they did not meet in person. The “Great” Khan’s embassy, ​​consisting of 700 people, reached Nizhny Novgorod, but for some reason did not go further.

Son-in-law and father-in-law. Who is who's "big brother"?

Apparently, the initiator of the fact that the Tatar ambassadors did not reach Moscow was the Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. This is a bright character whose influence on the events of the 80s is very great. In the 60s, he received the label for a great reign in the Horde three times, and even sat in Vladimir for three years, but he could not actually become the main prince of Rus'. The matter ended with the Moscow squad defeating the army of Dmitry Konstantinovich and deciding the outcome of the dispute by force.

“He led the army swiftly and secretly, with such insidious cunning - not allowing the news to overtake him, so that they would not hear in Rus' about his campaign.”

Later, Dmitry Moskovsky helped his namesake in the fight against his brother, after which peace came between the princes - Dmitry Moskovsky even married the youngest daughter of Dmitry Nizhny Novgorod.

A strange situation turned out: Donskoy in relation to his father-in-law is “younger brother,” but in terms of his princely status, it’s the other way around. This could not but irritate the ambitious Konstantinovich. Apparently, at the moment when the Tatar embassy came to him, he decided to take advantage of the situation and weave a cunning intrigue in order to remove Donskoy from power, or even destroy his obstinate son-in-law.

One way or another, Tokhtamysh’s embassy did not meet with Dmitry Donskoy, and in 1382 the Khan’s army set out on a campaign against the troublemaker.

“He led the army swiftly and secretly, with such insidious cunning - not allowing the news to overtake him, so that they would not hear in Rus' about his campaign.”

In order to use the effect of surprise, Tokhtamysh arrested all the Russian merchants in Sarai and took away their ships (so that information would not leak out), and the Tatars went on a campaign “in exile,” that is, with small forces and light luggage. Tokhtamysh had no infantry, and each horseman brought with him several spare horses to speed up the march.

The version that Dmitry went to Kostroma to gather troops does not stand up to criticism, since he never assembled an army and did not enter into battle with the Tatars

At the border, Tokhtamysh was met by Dmitry Konstantinovich with his sons Vasily and Semyon. Their squads joined the Tatar army and together marched on Moscow.

Dmitry Donskoy was trapped. If he entered into an open war with a legitimate khan, he was guaranteed to lose both his label, which most likely would have passed to his father-in-law, and his head. On the Kulikovo Field he had warriors from all over Rus' with him, but now the Muscovites would have to fight alone. And after a series of difficult battles with Mamai, the principality’s human resources were almost exhausted. As a result, Dmitry made, perhaps, the only right decision - he left the city along with all the soldiers and nearby boyars.

Donskoy left so quickly that he did not even have time to take his family out of the city. The hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, did the same and left his native Serpukhov with his squad. Apparently, the princes hoped that without them the city would not be destroyed, and that they would be able to enter into negotiations with Tokhtamysh. The version that Dmitry went to Kostroma to gather troops does not stand up to criticism, since he never assembled an army and did not enter into battle with the Tatars. He didn't even pursue them.

The mysterious Prince Ostey and the well-aimed shot of the clothier Adam

But then events took a completely unexpected turn - Muscovites rebelled and decided to take the fate of the city into their own hands. Residents of the capital and surrounding peasants who came under the protection of the walls sounded the alarm and gathered for a meeting. It was decided to defend the city to the end and punish the rich fugitives. Armed city guards stood at the gates, with orders to “press the sides” of those who tried to escape.

Beating of Muscovites by Tokhtamysh. Miniature from the Facial Chronicle, 16th century

Image: ru.wikipedia.org

“those who want to get out of the city, not only not to leave the city, but also to the plunderer, without being ashamed of the metropolitan himself, nor with the best boyars, nor with the elders of many years. But having made all the threats, standing on all the gates of the city, stoned the shibahu from above, and stood on the ground with spears, and sulitsa, and with naked weapons, and did not allow them to get out of the city, and barely begging for the time to let them out of the city, and then he robbed..."

An exception was made only for Metropolitan Cyprian and the princely family - they were allowed through without serious harm, although “the Grand Duchess Eudokea was offended,” apparently verbally. At first, chaos reigned in the city, some of the townspeople got their hands on the boyars' reserves of honey and wine, and their rioting became indomitable. Fortunately, there was a man who took the defense of the city into his own hands - the Lithuanian prince Ostej. Whether he was in the city by chance, or whether he was specially invited - this is not known for sure. Ostey was the son of either Andrei or Dmitry Olgerdovich - Lithuanian princes who switched to Russian service, participants in the Battle of Kulikovo. Perhaps he fought in it himself. Unfortunately, there is very little information about him, even his exact age is not known, but since the townspeople trusted him, it means that the prince had authority.

On August 23, the advanced detachments of the Tatars approached Moscow and offered to open the gates. The townspeople responded with obscene language and insults - according to the chronicler, many of them were still drunk

In the end, Osteus managed to calm the townspeople and organize a defense. So that the enemy could not use logs for the assault, the settlement was dismantled or burned, arrows were prepared on the walls, and cauldrons of water and resin were boiled. Muscovites formed detachments and distributed areas of defense.

On August 23, the advanced detachments of the Tatars approached Moscow and offered to open the gates. The townspeople responded with obscene language and insults - according to the chronicler, many of them were still drunk. For three days the Tatars stormed the city walls, but were unable to take them. Moscow was a first-class fortress and quite modern - the white stone walls of the city were built a decade and a half before the events described. But the Tatars did not have siege weapons and Chinese engineers, as during the invasion of Batu.

With masterly archery, the Tatars managed to drive the inexperienced townspeople off the walls, but when they tried to attack, they were again met with resistance: the Muscovites poured boiling water on them and fired buckshot point-blank from primitive cannons - “mattresses”. By the way, this is the first more or less reliably recorded case of the use of firearms in Russian military history. One of the defenders, a cloth worker named Adam (apparently a Sourozh guest, possibly a Genoese), noticing a noble Horde military leader from the Frolovsky Gate (as it later turned out, a Tatar prince), fired an arrow at him from a crossbow and struck the “enemy” to death. The death of the noble warrior greatly saddened Tokhtamysh and, it seems, excluded the possibility of reconciliation with the townspeople.

In the stories about this siege, guns are mentioned for the first time - “mattresses”

Image: liveinternet.ru

On August 26, the fourth day of the battle, the attackers began negotiations. The sons of Suzdal Prince Dmitry - Vasily and Semyon - came out to the Muscovites. “I didn’t come against you when I fought, but because I fought against Dmitry, I cried,” assured the ambassadors, who, by the way, were the brothers of Dmitry Donskoy’s wife Evdokia. The brothers publicly kissed the cross, saying that if the prince was not in the city, the Tatars would leave in peace.

“And he opened the gates of the city, and went out with his prince and with many gifts to the king, as well as the archimandrites, abbesses and priests with crosses, and along them the boyars and the best men, and then the people and black people.”

"The Tale of the Invasion of Tokhtamysh"

So, the townspeople believed the enemies and solemnly, with a procession of the cross, bread and salt, went out to negotiate. The procession was led by Prince Ostey himself and the most prominent priests and townspeople. But the peacefulness of the Tatars turned out to be a military stratagem, and the steppe inhabitants, together with the Nizhny Novgorod residents, attacked the unarmed procession. Osti and his warriors were the first to die, the clergy were mercilessly hacked to pieces with sabers and swords. Tatars, Suzdalians and Nizhny Novgorod residents burst into the city, and a terrible massacre began.

“And being inside the city is great, and outside too. I’ve been dying so much, until now their hands and their splashes have become silent, and their strength is exhausted, they don’t have sabers - their edges are dulled.”

"The Tale of the Invasion of Tokhtamysh"

And then a fire broke out - the inevitable concomitant of urban devastation.

Most of the residents died, the rest were taken away. Few managed to cross the river and escape in the forests.

The Tatar campaign never led to a decisive battle with the Russian army. As soon as the advanced detachments of the marauding steppe inhabitants came into contact with the squad of Vladimir Serpukhovsky (Brave) and suffered their first, not even very significant defeat, Tokhtamysh hastened to retreat. Dmitry Donskoy returned to Moscow and began rebuilding the city.

There are many blank spots in the history of Tokhtamyshev’s ruin. The traditional version is based on the “Tale of the Invasion of Tokhtamysh,” which was written at the beginning of the 15th century by someone from the circle of Metropolitan Cyprian. But it must be taken into account that Cyprian was an interested participant in those events and was on hostile terms with Dmitry Donskoy. Naturally, his interpretation may be tendentious, and one cannot blindly believe it. In historical science there is even a version that the uprising of Muscovites was directed against Dmitry himself, and this is precisely what explains his quick exodus from the city. Then Tokhtamysh acted as an ally of Donskoy, and this explains the fact that in the end the label went to the Moscow prince, and not to Nizhny Novgorod or Tver. The Lithuanian aspect is also important here - there was a civil war between princes Keistut and Jagiello, in which almost all Russian rulers were involved. However, these are special questions of interest only to professional historians.

One way or another, for the history of Moscow, the “Tokhtamyshevo ruin” became one of the tragic but significant episodes. The courage of the defenders, their will and heroism became a bright page in the city chronicle, as did the sacrificial feat of Prince Osteya. Unfortunately, we remember him too rarely.

Georgy Oltarzhevsky