Standing on the Urga 1480. The Great Standing on the Ugra River

Ivan III tears apart the khan's letter and tramples the basma in front of the Tatar ambassadors in 1478. Artist A.D. Kivshenko.

In the memory of the Russian people, a difficult period of history called the "Horde yoke" began in the 13th century. tragic events on the Kalka and Siti rivers, lasted almost 250 years, but ended triumphantly on the Ugra River in 1480.

The importance of the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 was always given great attention, and the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who received the honorary prefix to the name "Donskoy" after the battle, is a national hero. But no less heroism was shown by other historical characters, and some events, perhaps undeservedly forgotten, are commensurate in their significance with the battle on the Don. The events that put an end to the yoke of the Horde in 1480 are known in the historical literature under the general name "standing on the Ugra" or "Ugorshchina". They represented a chain of battles on the border of Russia between the troops of the great Moscow prince Ivan III and the khan of the Great Horde Akhmat.

The battle on the Ugra River, which put an end to the Horde yoke.
Miniature from the Obverse Chronicle Code. XVI century

In 1462, the Moscow grand-ducal throne was inherited by the eldest son of Vasily II the Dark, Ivan. As the head of the foreign policy of the Moscow principality, Ivan III knew what he wanted: to be the sovereign of all Russia, that is, to unite all the lands of the northeast under his rule and end the Horde dependence. Towards this goal Grand Duke went all my life and I must say successfully.

Sovereign of All Russia Ivan III
Vasilievich the Great.
Titular book. XVII century

By the end of the fifteenth century, the formation of the main territory of the Russian centralized state was almost completed. All the capitals of the appanage principalities of North-Eastern Russia bowed their heads before Moscow: in 1464 the Yaroslavl principality was annexed, and in 1474 - Rostov. Soon the same fate befell Novgorod: in 1472, partially, and in 1478 finally, Ivan III crossed out the separatist tendencies of a part of the Novgorod boyars and eliminated the sovereignty of the Novgorod feudal republic. The main symbol of Novgorod's freedom - the veche bell was removed by him and sent to Moscow.

The historical words uttered at the same time by Ivan III: "Our state of the great princes is as follows: there will not be an everlasting bell in our fatherland in Novgorod, there will not be a mayor, but we will keep our mastery", became the motto of Russian sovereigns for several centuries to come.

Map. Hikes of Ivan III.

While the Moscow state was growing mature and gaining strength, the Golden Horde had already disintegrated into several independent state formations that did not always get along peacefully with each other. First, the lands of Western Siberia with the center in the city of Chinga-Tura (present-day Tyumen) separated from it. In the 40s. on the territory between the Volga and Irtysh to the north of the Caspian Sea, an independent Nogai Horde was formed with its center in the city of Saraichik. A little later, on the lands of the former Mongol empire around the borders of its successor, the Great Horde, Kazan (1438) and Crimean (1443) arose, and in the 60s. - Kazakh, Uzbek and Astrakhan khanates. The throne of the Golden Horde kingdom and the title of the great khan were in the hands of Akhmat, whose power extended over vast territories between the Volga and the Dnieper.

During this period, the relationship between the uniting North-Eastern Russia and the disintegrating Horde were vague. And in 1472 Ivan III finally stopped paying tribute to the Horde. Akhmat Khan's campaign in 1480 was the last attempt to return Russia to a position subordinate to the Horde.

A suitable moment was chosen for the campaign, when Ivan III was in a dense circle of enemies. In the north, in the Pskov region, the Livonian Order plundered, whose troops, under the leadership of Master von der Borch, seized vast territories in the north of the country.

From the west, the Polish king Casimir IV threatened with war. The unrest that arose within the state was directly connected with the Polish threat. The Novgorod boyars, relying on the help of Casimir and the Livonians, organized a conspiracy to transfer Novgorod to the rule of foreigners. At the head of the conspiracy was Archbishop Theophilus, who enjoys great influence among the Novgorodians. In addition, in Moscow, the brothers of Ivan III, the appanage princes Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky, raised a mutiny, demanding an increase in the territory of the appanages and an increase in their influence on government. Both rebellious princes asked for help from Casimir, and he promised them all kinds of support.

The news of the new campaign of the Horde reached Moscow in the last days of May 1480. The Typographical Chronicle of the beginning of the invasion says: united duma with Casimir, the king bo and let him down on the grand duke ... ".

Upon receiving news of the Horde's uprising, the Grand Duke had to take retaliatory measures, both diplomatic and military.

The creation of a coalition with the Crimean Khanate, directed against the Great Horde, began by Ivan III shortly before the start of the invasion. On April 16, 1480, the Moscow embassy headed by Prince I.I. Zvenigorodsky-Zvenets went to the Crimea. In Bakhchisarai, the Moscow ambassador signed an agreement of mutual assistance with Khan Mengli-Girey. The Russian-Crimean alliance was defensive-offensive in relation to Casimir and defensive in relation to Akhmat. “And on the Tsar Akhmat,” the Crimean Khan wrote to Ivan III, to be with you for one. If Tsar Akhmat will go to me, and for my brother the Grand Duke Ivan, let his princes go to the horde with the lancers and princes. And then Akhmat the Tsar to you and me Mengli-Giray Tsar to go to Akhmat Tsar or let your brother go with your people. "

An alliance with Mengli-Girey was concluded, but the complexity of the situation on the border of Crimea and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as the relative weakness of Mengli-Girey as an ally, did not allow hoping for the prevention of Horde aggression only through diplomatic means. Therefore, for the defense of the country, Ivan III took a number of actions and of a military nature.

By the beginning of Akhmat's invasion, a deeply echeloned system of defensive structures existed on the southern borders of the Moscow state. This notch line consisted of fortified cities, numerous notches and earthen ramparts. When it was created, all possible protective geographical properties of the area were used: ravines, swamps, lakes, and especially rivers. The main line of defense of the southern borders stretched along the Oka. This part of the Zasechnaya line was called the "Oka coastal discharge".

The service for the protection of the Oka frontier was introduced by Ivan III into compulsory duty. Here, to protect the borders of the principality, peasants from not only near, but also distant villages went in turn. During the invasions of the Horde, this militia on foot had to withstand the first onslaught and keep the enemy on the border lines until the main forces arrived. The principles of defense of the line were also developed by the military administration of the Grand Duke in advance. The extant "Instruction to the Ugric governors" clearly shows this.

Fragment of the diorama "Great Standing on the Ugra River". Museum diorama. Kaluga region, Dzerzhinsky district, with. Palaces, Vladimirsky skete of the Kaluga St. Tikhon's hermitage.

In late May - early June, the Grand Duke sent a voivode with armed detachments to the Oka region to help the troops on permanent service in southern "Ukraine". The son of Ivan III, Ivan Young, was dressed up in Serpukhov. The brother of the Moscow prince Andrei Menshoi went to Tarusa to prepare the city for defense and organize a rebuff to the Tatars. In addition to them, in the Russian chronicles, as one of the leaders of the defense of the Zasechnaya line, a distant relative of Ivan III, Prince Vasily Vereisky, is mentioned.

The measures taken by the Grand Duke were timely. Soon separate enemy patrols appeared on the right bank of the Oka. This fact was reflected in the chronicle: "Tatarov came to captivate Besput and otidosh." The first blow, apparently carried out with a reconnaissance purpose, was struck at one of the right-bank Prioksk Russian volosts, not covered by a water barrier from attacks from the steppe. But when he saw that the Russian troops took up defenses on the opposite bank, the enemy withdrew.

The rather slow advance of Akhmat's main forces allowed the Russian command to determine the possible direction of Akhmat's main attack. The breakthrough of the Zasechnaya line was to take place either between Serpukhov and Kolomna, or below Kolomna. The advancement of the grand-ducal regiment under the leadership of the voivode, prince D.D. Kholmsky to the place of a possible meeting with the enemy ended in July 1480.

The decisiveness of Akhmat's goals is indicated by specific facts reflected in the chronicle sources. Akhmat's army, in all likelihood, included all the available military forces of the Great Horde at that time. According to the chronicles, his nephew Kasim, and six more princes, whose names have not survived in the Russian chronicles, spoke together with Akhmat. Comparing with the forces that the Horde had previously exhibited (for example, the invasion of Edigei in 1408, Mazovshi in 1451), we can draw a conclusion about the numerical strength of Akhmat's troops. It is about 80-90 thousand soldiers. Naturally, this figure is not accurate, but it gives a general idea of the scale of the invasion.

The timely deployment of the main forces of the Russian troops on the defensive lines did not allow Akhmat to force the Oka in its central sector, which would allow the Horde to be on the shortest direction to Moscow. The khan turned his army to the Lithuanian possessions, where he could successfully solve a double task: first, to unite with Casimir's regiments, and secondly, to break into the territory of the Moscow principality from the Lithuanian lands without much difficulty. There is direct information about this in the Russian chronicles: "... go to the Lithuanian lands, bypassing the Oka River, and waiting for the king to help or force."

Akhmat's maneuver along the Oka line was timely detected by Russian outposts. In this regard, the main forces from Serpukhov and Tarusa were transferred to the west, to Kaluga and directly to the bank of the Ugra River. Regiments were also sent there, going to reinforce the Grand Duke's troops from various Russian cities. So, for example, forces arrived to the Eel Tver principality led by voivods Mikhail Kholmsky and Joseph Dorogobuzhsky. To get ahead of the Horde, to reach the banks of the Ugra before them, to occupy and strengthen all the places convenient for crossing - this was the task before the Russian troops.

Akhmat's movement towards Ugra was fraught with great danger. Firstly, this river, as a natural barrier, was significantly inferior to the Oka. Secondly, going to the Ugra, Akhmat continued to remain in close proximity to Moscow and, with a rapid crossing of the water line, he could reach the capital of the principality in 3 horse crossings. Thirdly, the entry of the Horde into the Lithuanian land pushed Casimir to march and increased the likelihood of the Horde joining with the Polish troops.

All these circumstances forced the Moscow government to take extraordinary measures. One such measure was the holding of a council. The discussion of the current situation was attended by the son and co-ruler of the Grand Duke Ivan Molodoy, his mother - Prince nun Martha, uncle - Prince Mikhail Andreyevich Vereisky, Metropolitan of All Russia Gerontius, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov and many boyars. The council adopted a strategic action plan aimed at preventing the invasion of the Horde into the Russian lands. It provided for the simultaneous solution of several tasks of different nature.

First, an agreement was reached with the rebel brothers to end the hush-up. The end of the feudal rebellion significantly strengthened the military-political position of the Russian state in the face of the Horde threat, depriving Akhmat and Casimir of one of the main trump cards in their political game. Secondly, it was decided to transfer Moscow and a number of cities to a state of siege. So, according to the Moscow Chronicle, "... under siege in the city of Moscow sat Metropolitan Gerontius, the Grand Duchess Monk Martha, and Prince Mikhail Andreevich, and the governor of Moscow Ivan Yuryevich, and many a multitude of people from many cities." A partial evacuation of the capital was carried out (the wife of Ivan III, the Grand Duchess Sophia, young children and the state treasury, were sent from Moscow to Beloozero). The population of the Oka cities was partially evacuated, and the garrisons in them were fortified by the sovereign archers from Moscow. Thirdly, Ivan III ordered additional military mobilization on the territory of the Moscow principality. Fourth, it was decided to raid Russian troops into the Horde's territory to carry out a diversionary strike. For this purpose, the ship's army was sent down the Volga under the leadership of the Crimean prince Nur-Daulet and Prince Vasily Zvenigorodsky-Nozdrovaty.

On October 3, the Grand Duke set out from Moscow to the regiments guarding the left bank of the Ugra. Arriving at the army, Ivan III stopped in the city of Kremenets, located between Medyn and Borovsk and located in the immediate vicinity of a possible theater of military operations. According to the Moscow Chronicle, he "... a hundred on Kremenets with little people, and let all the people go to the Ugra to his son, Grand Duke Ivan." Taking a position located 50 km in the rear of the troops deployed along the coast of the Ugra provided the central military leadership with reliable communication with the main forces and made it possible to cover the path to Moscow in the event of a breakthrough of the Horde detachments through the barrage of Russian troops.

The sources did not preserve the official chronicle report on the "Ugorshchina", there are no regiments and voivods' paintings, although many military ranks have survived from the time of Ivan III. Formally, the army was headed by the son and co-ruler of Ivan III, Ivan Molodoy, with whom his uncle, Andrei Menshoi, was. In fact, the military operations were led by the old tried-and-true governors of the Grand Duke, who had extensive experience in waging war with nomads. Prince Danila Kholmsky was the great voivode. His associates were no less famous commanders - Semyon Ryapolovsky-Khripun and Danila Patrikeev-Shchenya. The main grouping of troops was concentrated in the Kaluga area, covering the mouth of the Ugra. In addition, Russian regiments were deployed along the entire lower course of the river. According to the Vologda-Perm Chronicle, the grand-ducal governors "... a hundred along the Oka and along the Ugra at 60 versts" in the area from Kaluga to Yukhnov. "

The main task of the regiments scattered along the river bank was to prevent the enemy from breaking through the Ugra, and for this it was necessary to reliably protect places convenient for crossing.

The infantry was entrusted with the immediate defense of the fords and climbers. In places convenient for crossing, fortifications were erected, which were guarded by permanent outposts. The composition of such outposts included infantrymen and a "fiery outfit" consisting of archers and artillery servants.

A somewhat different role was assigned to the cavalry. Small horse patrols patrolled the coast between the outposts and maintained close communication between them. Their task also included the capture of enemy scouts who were trying to find out the location of Russian troops on the banks of the Ugra and reconnoitre comfortable seats for crossing the river. Large cavalry regiments rushed to the aid of the outposts standing at the crossings, as soon as the direction of the enemy's main attack was determined. Attacking or reconnaissance campaigns to the opposite bank occupied by the enemy were also allowed.

Thus, on a wide front along the Ugra River, a positional defense was created with active sorties of horse detachments. Moreover, the main force located in the fortified nodes of defense at the crossing points was the infantry, equipped with firearms.

The massive use of firearms by Russian soldiers during the "standing on the Ugra" is noted in all the annals. Squeaks were used - long-barreled guns with aimed and effective fire. The so-called mattresses were also used - firearms for firing stone or metal shot at a close distance at the enemy's manpower. The "fiery outfit" could be used widely and with the greatest benefit in a positional, defensive battle. Therefore, the choice of a defensive position on the banks of the Ugra, in addition to a favorable strategic position, was also dictated by the desire to effectively use a new branch of troops in the Russian army - artillery.

The tactics imposed on the Horde deprived them of the opportunity to use the advantages of their light cavalry in flanking or flanking maneuvers. They were forced to act only in a frontal attack on the Russian notches, to go head-on on the squeaks and mattresses, on the close formation of heavily armed Russian soldiers.

Chronicles report that Akhmat walked with all his forces along the right bank of the Oka River through the cities of Mtsensk, Lyubutsk and Odoev to Vorotynsk, a town located not far from Kaluga near the confluence of the Ugra and the Oka. Here Akhmat was going to wait for help from Casimir.

But at this time, the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, at the insistence of Ivan III, began hostilities in Podolia, thereby partially drawing off the troops and the attention of the Polish king. Busy with the struggle with the Crimea and the elimination of internal troubles, he could not help the Horde.

Without waiting for the help of the Poles, Akhmat decided to cross the river himself in the Kaluga region. The Horde troops reached the crossings on the Ugra on October 6-8, 1480 and launched military operations in several places at once: “... to the Tatars ... they came against Prince Ondrei, and against the Grand Duke of Mnozi, and the ovia against the governor suddenly attacked ".

The opponents came face to face, they were separated only by the river surface of the Ugra (in the widest places up to 120-140 m). On the left bank at the crossings and fords, Russian archers lined up, squeakers and mattresses with cannoners and squeakers were located. Regiments of noble cavalry in armor shining in the sun, with sabers were ready to strike at the Horde, if they could somewhere cling to our shore. The battle for the crossings began at 1 pm on October 8 and continued along the entire line of defense for almost four days.

The Russian commanders used the advantages of their troops in small arms to the maximum advantage and shot the Horde people while still in the water. They never succeeded in crossing the river in any section. The "fiery outfit" played a special role in the battles for the crossings. Cannonballs, shots, and buckshot inflicted significant damage. Iron and stone were pierced through the wineskins, which were used by the Horde to cross. Deprived of support, horses and riders were quickly exhausted. Those who were spared by the fire went to the bottom. The Horde, floundering in the cold water, became a good target for the Russian shooters, and they themselves could not use their favorite technique - massive archery. Arrows flying across the river at the end lost their lethal force and practically did not bring harm to the Russian soldiers. Despite the huge losses, the khan again and again drove his cavalry forward. But all of Akhmat's attempts to force the river on the move ended in vain. “The tsar is not possible to take the bank and retreat from the river from the Ugra for two versts and a hundred in Luza” - says the Vologda-Perm chronicle.

The Horde made a new attempt to carry out the crossing in the area of the Opakov settlement. Here, the terrain conditions made it possible to secretly concentrate the cavalry on the Lithuanian coast, and then it would be relatively easy to force the shallow river. However, the Russian commanders closely followed the movement of the Tatars and skillfully maneuvered their regiments. As a result, at the crossing the Horde was met not by a small outpost, but by large forces that repulsed the last desperate attempt of Akhmat.

The Russian army stopped the Horde at the border lines and did not allow the enemy to reach Moscow. But the final turning point in the fight against Akhmat's invasion has not yet come. The formidable Horde army on the banks of the Ugra retained its combat capability and readiness to resume the battle.

Under these conditions, Ivan III began diplomatic negotiations with Akhmat. The Russian embassy headed by the Duma clerk Ivan Tovarkov went to the Horde people. But these negotiations showed the fundamental incompatibility of the views of the parties on the possibility of reaching an armistice. If Akhmat insisted on the continuation of the rule of the Horde over Russia, then Ivan III considered this demand as unacceptable. In all likelihood, the negotiations were started by the Russians only in order to somehow stretch out the time and find out the further intentions of the Horde and their allies, as well as wait for the fresh regiments of Andrei Bolshoy and Boris Volotsky, hurrying to help. Ultimately, the negotiations never came to anything.

But Akhmat continued to believe in the successful completion of the undertaken campaign against Moscow. In the Sophia Chronicle there is a phrase that the chronicler put into the mouth of the Horde Khan at the end of unsuccessful negotiations: "May God give you winter, and the rivers will all become, but there will be many roads to Russia." The establishment of ice cover on border rivers significantly changed the situation for the opposing sides and not in favor of the Russians. Therefore, the Grand Duke adopted new operational and tactical decisions. One of such decisions was the transfer of the main Russian forces from the left bank of the Ugra River to the northeast to the area of the cities of Kremenets and Borovsk. Fresh regiments, recruited in the north, moved here to help the main forces. As a result of this redeployment, the front stretched out in length was eliminated, which, with the loss of such a natural defensive line as Ugra, was significantly weakened. In addition, in the region of Kremenets, a powerful fist was formed, the rapid movement of which would have made it possible to block the way for the Horde on possible way attack on Moscow. The withdrawal of troops from Ugra began immediately after October 26. Moreover, the troops were withdrawn first to Kremenets, and then even further into the interior of the country, to Borovsk, where the troops of his brothers arrived from the Novgorod land were waiting for Grand Duke Ivan III. The relocation of the position from Kremenets to Borovsk was made most likely because the new disposition of Russian troops covered the path to Moscow not only from the Ugra, but also from Kaluga; from Borovsk it was possible to quickly move troops to the middle course of the Oka between Kaluga and Serpukhov, if Akhmat decided to change the direction of the main attack. According to the Typographical Chronicle, "... the great prince came to Borovsk, verbally like - and we will put up a battle with them on those fields."

The area near Borovsk was very convenient for a decisive battle if Akhmat had nevertheless decided to cross the Ugra. The city was located on the right bank of the Protva, on the hills with good overview... The area near Borovsk, covered with dense forest, would not have allowed Akhmat to fully use his main striking force - his numerous cavalry. The general strategic plan of the Russian command did not change - to give a defensive battle in favorable conditions and to prevent the enemy from breaking through to the capital.

However, Akhmat not only did not make a new attempt to cross the Ugra and join the battle, but on November 6 began to retreat from the Russian borders. On November 11, this news reached the camp of Ivan III. Akhmat's retreat route passed through the cities of Mtsensk, Serensk and further to the Horde. Murtoza, the most energetic of the sons of Akhmat, attempted to destroy the Russian volosts on the right bank of the Oka. As the chronicler writes, two villages in the Aleksin area were captured. But Ivan III ordered his brothers to come forward without delay to meet the enemy. Upon learning of the approach of the princely squads, Murtosa retreated.

This ingloriously ended the last campaign of the Great Horde against Russia. On the banks of the Oka and Ugra, a decisive political victory was won - in fact, the Horde yoke, which had gravitated over Russia for more than two centuries, was overthrown.

On December 28, 1480, Grand Duke Ivan III returned to Moscow, where he was solemnly greeted by the jubilant townspeople. The war for the liberation of Russia from the Horde yoke was over.

The remnants of Akhmat's army fled to the steppe. The defeated khan was immediately opposed by rivals. This struggle ended in his death. In January 1481, in the Don steppes, tired of a long and fruitless march, the Horde lost their vigilance and were overtaken by the Nogai Khan Ivak. The assassination of Akhmat by Murza Yamgurchey led to an instant disintegration of the Horde army. But the decisive factor that led Akhmat to death, and his horde to defeat, was, of course, their defeat in the autumn campaign of 1480.

The actions of the Russian command, which led to victory, had some new features that were no longer characteristic of appanage Russia, but for united state... First, the strict centralization of leadership in repelling the invasion. All command and control of troops, determination of the lines of deployment of the main forces, selection of rear positions, preparation of cities in the rear for defense, all this was in the hands of the head of state. Secondly, at all stages of the confrontation, maintaining constant and well-oiled communication with the troops, timely response to a rapidly changing situation. And lastly, the desire to act on a wide front, the ability to gather forces into a fist in the most dangerous sectors, high maneuverability of troops and excellent reconnaissance.

The actions of the Russian troops during the autumn campaign of 1480 to repel the invasion of Akhmat are a bright page in the military history of our country. If the victory on the Kulikovo field meant the beginning of a turning point in Russian-Horde relations - the transition from passive defense to an active struggle to overthrow the yoke, then the victory on the Ugra meant the end of the yoke and the restoration of the full national sovereignty of the Russian land. This is the largest event of the 15th century, and Sunday 12 November 1480 - the first day of the completely independent Russian state - is one of the most important dates in the history of the Fatherland. PCPL. T.26. M.-L., 1959.

Monument to the Great Stand on the Ugra River. Located in the Kaluga region on the 176th km of the Moscow-Kiev highway near the bridge over the river. Opened in 1980
Authors: V.A. Frolov. M.A. Neimark and E.I. Kireev.

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See: Chronicle collection called the Patriarch or Nikon Chronicle. Complete collection of Russian chronicles (hereinafter - PSRL). T. XII. SPb., 1901, p. 181.

Cit. Quoted from: Russian stories Ancient Rus... L., 1985, S. 290.

Kalugin I.K. Diplomatic relations between Russia and Crimea during the reign of Ivan III. M., 1855.S. 15.

Discharge book 1475-1598 M., 1966.S. 46.

Military stories of Ancient Russia. P. 290.

Moscow Letters. PCPL. T.25. M.-L., 1949.S. 327.

Tver Chronicle. PCPL. T.15. SPb., 1863. Stb. 497-498.

Moscow Letters. P. 327.

Tcherepnin L.B. Education of the Russian centralized state in the XIV-XV centuries. M., 1960.S. 881.

Moscow Letters. P. 327.

Bologo-Permian Letters. PCPL. T.26. M.-L., 1959.S. 263.

Typographic Academy Letters ". PLDP. Second half of the 15th century M., 1982.S. 516.

Bologo-Permian Letters. P. 264.

The Sofia-Lviv Chronicle. PCPL. T.20, part 1. SPb, 1910-1914. P. 346.

Boinkie tales of Ancient Pycy. P. 290.

Yuri Alekseev, Senior Researcher
Research Institute of Military History
Military Academy of the General Staff
Of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Place Outcome

Strategic victory for the Russians
The end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke

Parties Commanders Forces of the parties Losses

The beginning of hostilities

Khan Akhmat, busy with the struggle against the Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active operations. He managed to negotiate with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV on military assistance. The western borders of the Moscow state (Pskov lands) at the beginning of 1480 were attacked by the Livonian Order. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernd von der Borch:

“… He gathered such a force of the people against the Russian, which has never been collected by any master, either before him or after… This master was involved in the war with the Russians, took up arms against them and gathered 100 thousand troops from foreign and native warriors and peasants; with these people he attacked Russia and burned down the outskirts of Pskov, without doing anything else "

In January 1480, his brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi revolted against Ivan III, dissatisfied with the growing power of the Grand Duke. Taking advantage of the situation, Akhmat organized reconnaissance of the right bank of the Oka River in June 1480, and in the fall he set out with the main forces.

"That same summer, the evil-named Tsar Akhmat ... go to Orthodox Christianity, to Russia, to the holy churches and to the Grand Duke, boasting to destroy the holy churches and all Orthodoxy and capture the Grand Duke himself, as if under Baty besh."

The boyar elite of the Muscovite state split into two groups: one (“rich and belly lovers of money”), led by the devious Ivan Oschera and Grigory Mamon, advised Ivan III to flee; the other advocated the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps the behavior of Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Ivan III began to pull troops to the banks of the Oka River. In particular, he sent his brother of the Vologda prince Andrei Menshoy to his patrimony - Tarusa, and his son Ivan the Young to Serpukhov. The Grand Duke himself arrived on June 23 to Kolomna, where he stopped in anticipation of the further course of events. On the same day, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession they associated the salvation of Russia from the troops of Tamerlane in 1395.

Akhmat's troops moved unhindered through Lithuanian territory and accompanied by Lithuanian guides through Mtsensk, Odoev and Lyubutsk to Vorotynsk. Here the khan expected help from Casimir IV, but never received it. Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian troops by attacking Podolia. Knowing that Russian regiments awaited him on the Oka, Akhmat decided, passing through Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory across the Ugra River. Ivan III, having received information about such intentions, sent his son Ivan and brother Andrey Menshoy to Kaluga and to the bank of the Ugra.

Confrontation on the Eel

For those who watched from the sidelines how both armies almost simultaneously (within two days) turned back, without bringing the matter to battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received a simplified explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, were afraid to accept battle. Contemporaries attributed this to the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who saved the Russian land from ruin. This is probably why the Ugra began to be called "the belt of the Mother of God". Ivan III with his son and all the army returned to Moscow, "And you rejoiced, and all people rejoiced with great joy".

The results of "standing" in the Horde were perceived differently. On January 6, 1481, Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat retired from Sarai, probably fearing assassination attempts. Civil strife began in the Big Horde.

Outcomes

In Standing on the Ugra, the Russian army applied new tactical and strategic techniques:

coordinated actions with Mengli I's ally Giray, which distracted the military forces of Casimir IV from the clash;
Ivan III sent troops to the Big Horde along the Volga to destroy the defenseless Khan's capital, which was a new military tactical trick and caught the Horde by surprise;
Ivan III's successful attempt to avoid a military clash, in which there was neither military nor political necessity - the Horde was greatly weakened, its days as a state were numbered.

"Standing" put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Moscow state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally. Ivan III's diplomatic efforts prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites, who stopped the German offensive by autumn, also contributed to the salvation of Russia.

In the late autumn of 1480, the Great Standing on the Ugra ended. It is believed that after this, the Mongol-Tatar yoke did not exist in Russia.

Insult

The conflict between the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III and the Khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat, arose, according to one version, due to non-payment of tribute. But a number of historians believe that Akhmat received the tribute, but went to Moscow because he did not wait for the personal presence of Ivan III, who was supposed to receive a label for the great reign. Thus, the prince did not recognize the authority and power of the khan.

Akhmat was especially offended by the fact that when he sent ambassadors to Moscow to ask for tribute and dues for the past years, the Grand Duke again did not show due respect. The Kazan History even says: “The Grand Duke was not afraid ... taking the Basma, spat, broke, threw it to the ground and trampled under his feet.” Of course, such behavior of the Grand Duke is difficult to imagine, but the refusal to recognize Akhmat's power followed.

Khan's pride is confirmed in another episode. In the "Ugorshchina" Akhmat, who was not in the best strategic position, demanded that Ivan III himself come to the Horde headquarters and stand at the ruler's stirrup, waiting for a decision.

Women's participation

But Ivan Vasilyevich was concerned about his own family. The people disliked his wife. Panicked, the prince first of all rescues his wife: “the Grand Duchess Sophia (a Roman woman, as the chroniclers put it), John sent with the treasury to Beloozero, giving orders to go further to the sea and ocean if the khan crossed the Oka,” wrote the historian Sergei Soloviev. However, the people were not happy about her return from Beloozero: “The Grand Duchess Sophia ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, and no one drove.”

The brothers, Andrei Galitsky and Boris Volotsky, revolted, demanding to divide the inheritance of their deceased brother - Prince Yuri. Only when this conflict was settled, not without the help of his mother, Ivan III could continue to fight the Horde. In general, the "female participation" in standing on the Ugra is great. If you believe Tatishchev, then it was Sophia who persuaded Ivan III to make a historic decision. The victory in the Station is also attributed to the intercession of the Mother of God.

By the way, the amount of the required tribute was relatively low - 140,000 altyns. Khan Tokhtamysh a century earlier had collected from the Vladimir principality about almost 20 times more.

They did not save even when planning defense. Ivan Vasilievich gave a decree to burn down the posadi. The inhabitants were moved inside the fortress walls.

There is a version that the prince simply bought off the khan after the Standing: he paid one part of the money on the Ugra, the second after the retreat. Beyond the Oka, Andrei Menshoy, brother of Ivan III, did not attack the Tatars, but gave a "way out."

Indecision

The Grand Duke refused to take action. Subsequently, his descendants approved of his defensive position. But some contemporaries had a different opinion.

At the news of Akhmat's approach, he panicked. The people, according to the chronicle, accused the prince of putting everyone in danger with his indecision. Fearing attempts, Ivan left for Krasnoe Seltso. His heir, Ivan Molodoy, was at that time with the army, ignoring the requests and letters of his father, demanding to leave the army.

The Grand Duke nevertheless left in the direction of Ugra in early October, but did not reach the main forces. In the city of Kremenets, he waited for the brothers who had reconciled with him. And at this time there were battles on the Ugra.

Why didn't the Polish king help?

Akhmat Khan's main ally, the great Lithuanian prince and Polish king Casimir IV, never came to help. The question arises: why?

Some write that the king was concerned about the attack of the Crimean Khan Mepgli-Girey. Others point to internal strife in the land of Lithuania - "the conspiracy of princes." The "Russian elements", dissatisfied with the king, sought support from Moscow and wanted reunification with the Russian principalities. There is also an opinion that the king himself did not want conflicts with Russia. He was not afraid of the Crimean Khan: the ambassador had been holding talks in Lithuania since mid-October.

And the freezing Khan Akhmat, waiting for frost, and not for reinforcements, wrote to Ivan III: “But now, if I have gone from the coast, because I have people without clothes, and horses without blankets. And the heart of winter is blown away for ninety days, and I’ll hit you again, but my water is muddy to drink ”.
Proud but incautious Akhmat returned to the steppe with booty, ruining the lands of his former ally, and stayed for the winter at the mouth of the Donets. There the Siberian Khan Ivak, three months after the "Ugorshchina", personally killed the enemy in a dream. An ambassador was sent to Moscow to announce the death of the last ruler of the Great Horde. The historian Sergei Soloviev writes about it this way: “The last formidable khan of the Golden Horde for Moscow perished from one of the descendants of the Genghis Khanovs; he left behind sons, who were also destined to die from the Tatar weapons. "

Probably, the descendants still remained: Anna Gorenko considered Akhmat to be her maternal ancestor and, becoming a poetess, took the pseudonym Akhmatova.

Disputes about place and time

Historians argue about where Stoyanie was on the Ugra. They call the area under the Opakov settlement, the village of Gorodets, and the confluence of the Ugra with the Oka. “To the mouth of the Ugra along its right,“ Lithuanian ”coast, there was a land road from Vyazma, along which Lithuanian aid was expected and which the Horde people could use for maneuvers. Even in the middle of the 19th century. The Russian General Staff recommended this road for the movement of troops from Vyazma to Kaluga, ”writes the historian Vadim Kargalov.
The exact date of the arrival of Ahamat to the Ugra is not known either. Books and chronicles agree on one thing: it happened not earlier than the beginning of October. The Vladimir Chronicle, for example, is accurate up to one hour: "arriving at the Ugra in October on the 8th day, a week, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon." In the Vologda-Perm Chronicle it is written: “the tsar went away from Ugra on Thursday, the eve of Mikhailov's days” (November 7).

Standing on the Ugra river- hostilities in 1480 between the Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat and the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III in alliance with the Crimean Khanate. According to the majority of Soviet and Russian historians, it put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke in the north and northeast of Russia, where it lasted the longest and where the process of formation of a single Russian state was going on, which became completely independent.

The beginning of hostilities

In 1472, the Horde Khan Akhmat with a large army moved to the borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. But at Tarusa, the invaders met a large Russian army. All attempts by the Horde to cross the Oka were repulsed. The army of the Horde burned the city of Aleksin and destroyed its population, but the campaign ended in failure. According to the traditional story, in 1476 the Grand Duke Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Khan of the Golden Horde, and in 1480 he refused to recognize the dependence of Russia on her. Despite this, according to the American historian Charles Halperin, the absence in the annals of evidence fixing the exact date of the termination of the payment of tribute does not allow to prove that the payment of tribute was stopped in 1476; the dating and the very authenticity of Akhmat's label to Ivan III, containing information about the termination of the payment of tribute, remains a subject of debate in the academic environment.

Khan Akhmat, busy with the struggle against the Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active operations. He managed to negotiate with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV on military assistance. The Pskov Republic at the beginning of 1480 was attacked by the Livonian Order. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernd von der Borch:

The boyar elite of the Russian state split into two groups: one (“rich and belly lovers of money”), led by the devious Ivan Oschera and Grigory Mamon, advised Ivan III to flee; the other advocated the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps the behavior of Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Standing on the Eel

On September 30, Ivan III returned from Kolomna to Moscow "For advice and thought" with the Metropolitan and the boyars. The Grand Duke received a unanimous answer, "To stand firmly for Orthodox Christianity against bezsermenstvo"... On the same days, ambassadors from Andrei Bolshoy and Boris Volotsky came to Ivan III, who announced the end of the rebellion. The Grand Duke granted the brothers forgiveness and ordered them to move with their regiments to the Oka. On October 3, Ivan III left Moscow and went to the city of Kremenets (now the village of Kremenskoye, Medynsky district), where he remained with a small detachment, and sent the rest of the troops to the banks of the Ugra River.

To exclude an attack from the rear, the Tatars ravaged the area of the upper river. Oki for 100 km, inhabited by Russians, capturing the cities: Mtsensk, Odoev, Przemysl, Stary Vorotynsk, Novy Vorotynsk, Stary Zalidov, Novy Zalidov, Opakov, Meshchovsk, Serensk, Kozelsk. The attempt of Khan Akhmat to force the river was unsuccessful. Ugra in the area of the Opakov settlement, she was also repulsed.

Meanwhile, on October 8, Akhmat tried to force the Ugra, but his attack was repulsed by the forces of Ivan the Young.

"And the Tartars came and started shooting the Muscovites, and the Muscovites started shooting at them and squealing at the Pushcha and many, killing the Tatars with arrows and pilings and repelling them from the shore ...".

This historical event took place in the area of a five-kilometer section of the Ugra River up from its mouth to the confluence of the river. Rosvyanka. For several days the attempts of the Horde continued to cross, suppressed by the fire of the Russian artillery; attempts did not bring the Horde the desired success; they retreated two miles from the river. The Ugrians also got up in Luza. The troops of Ivan III took up defensive positions on the opposite bank of the river. The famous "standing on the Ugra" began. Skirmishes broke out periodically, but neither side dared to launch a serious attack.

In this position, negotiations began. Akhmat demanded that the Grand Duke himself, or his son, or at least his brother, appear to him with an expression of obedience, as well as that the Russians pay the tribute that they owed for seven years. As an embassy, Ivan III sent his boyar son Tovarkov Ivan Fedorovich companions with gifts. Tribute claims were rejected, gifts were not accepted, and negotiations were broken off. It is possible that Ivan went for them, trying to gain time, since the situation was slowly changing in his favor:

The forces of Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky were on the way.
The Crimean Khan Mengli I Girey, fulfilling his promise, attacked Podolia - the southern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Akhmat could no longer count on the help of his ally - Lithuania.
The Tatar army is mainly cavalry, in addition, the Tatars mainly used sheep as food, whose flocks followed the army. A large number of horses and livestock for a long time in one place devastated all the food supplies in the area, and the army began to experience an acute shortage of forage. The Russian army (mainly infantry) was supplied with flour and grain from the grand ducal granaries.
In the Tatar army, an epidemic of a general disease began and began to gain strength (according to the signs described in the annals, presumably dysentery). The epidemic did not affect the Russian army.
The "draw" outcome of the confrontation was quite satisfactory for Ivan, while for Akhmat, the initiator of hostilities, such an outcome was tantamount to defeat.

On the same days, October 15-20, Ivan III received a fiery message from the Archbishop of Rostov Vassian, in which he urged to follow the example before former princes:

“... who not only defended the Russian land from the rotten (that is, not Christians), but also subjugated other countries ... Only take courage and be strong, my spiritual son, as a good warrior of Christ according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel:“ You are a good shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep "..."

End of the confrontation

Learning that Akhmat, striving to achieve a numerical advantage, mobilized the Big Horde as much as possible, so that there were no significant reserves of troops left on its territory, Ivan allocated a small but very efficient detachment, under the command of the Zvenigorod voivode, Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, which was supposed to go down in canoes along the Oka, then along the Volga to its lower reaches and commit a devastating sabotage in the possessions of Akhmat. The Crimean prince Nur-Devlet with his nukers also took part in this expedition.

On October 28, 1480, Ivan III decided to withdraw his troops to Kremenets and further concentrate on Borovsk in order to fight there in a favorable situation if the Horde crossed the river. Akhmat, having learned that a sabotage detachment of Prince Nozdrevaty and Crimean prince Nur-Devlet is operating in his deep rear, intending to seize and plunder the capital of the Horde (perhaps he also received information about the impending attack of the Nogai Tatars) and also lacking food, did not dare to pursue the Russians troops and at the end of October - early November also began to withdraw its troops. On November 11, Akhmat decided to go back to the Horde, plundering Kozelsk, which belonged to Lithuania, on the way back.

The results of "standing" in the Horde were perceived differently. On January 6, 1481, Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak (probably carried out by prior agreement with Ivan III) on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat retired from Sarai, probably fearing attempts. Civil strife began in the Big Horde.

Outcomes

In Standing on the Ugra, the Russian army applied new tactical and strategic techniques:

coordinated actions with Mengli I's ally Giray, which distracted the military forces of Casimir IV from the clash;
Ivan III sent troops to the Big Horde along the Volga to destroy the defenseless Khan's capital, which was a new military tactical trick and caught the Horde by surprise;
Ivan III's successful attempt to avoid a military clash, in which there was neither military nor political necessity - the Horde was greatly weakened, its days as a state were numbered.

According to the traditional version, "standing" put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Moscow state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally. Ivan III's diplomatic efforts prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites, who stopped the German offensive by autumn, also contributed to the salvation of Russia.

The acquisition of political independence from the Horde, along with the spread of Moscow's influence over the Kazan Khanate (1487), played a role in the subsequent transfer of part of the lands that were under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Moscow's rule. In 1502, when Ivan III, for diplomatic reasons flatteringly admitted himself serf Khan of the Great Horde, its weakened army was defeated by the Khan of Crimea Mengli I Girey, and the Horde itself ceased to exist.

A number of modern American researchers deny the historical significance of the standing on the Ugra, which goes beyond an ordinary diplomatic incident, and its connection with the overthrow of the Horde yoke (like the very concept of the "Tatar yoke") is viewed as a historiographic myth. So, according to Donald Ostrovsky, although the payment of tribute was reduced by seven times, it did not stop, and the rest of the changes affected only the minting of coins. The accusation of passivity in relation to the Horde, put forward to Ivan III in the "Epistle to the Ugra" by Archbishop Vassian, he considers evidence that contemporaries did not see qualitative changes in the position of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Charles Halperin believes that in 1480 there were no texts in which the issue of Russian liberation from the Tatar yoke was raised (this also applies to the "Epistle to the Ugra", dating of which in 1480 is also not indisputable). Halperin does not see in the sources either before or after standing on the Ugra direct evidence that the power of the Chingizids in Russia was denied, referring also to the fact that in one of the legends about standing on the Ugra, Ivan III himself, on the eve of the confrontation, asks Akhmat to abandon his intentions. ulus war. " At the same time, Halperin believes that “Muscovy showed considerable competence in the implementation of Eastern diplomacy, was able to adapt to the Tatar model of political relations. When reading the ambassadorial books about the negotiations between Moscow and the Nogai Horde, one gets the feeling that the Russian ambassadorial clerks masterfully reproduced the “language of the Steppe”. But Russian contacts with Christian European countries were based on a different model, not Tatar at all. Diplomatic monuments of relations with Western European countries are filled with insincere and often repeated appeals to Christian unity and the prevention of the shedding of Christian blood ... suffice it to recall that Muscovy, Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania hired Muslim Tatars to serve in their armies, brought money and gifts to Crimea, in order to incite the Tatars against neighboring states - and at the same time, Russian and Lithuanian diplomats accused each other of guiding the damned infidels at the Christian people. "

V.N. Rudakov writes about a serious struggle surrounded by Ivan III between those who believed that the Grand Duke had the right to fight the “godless tsar” and those who denied him such a right. A.A. Gorsky, supporting Halperin's opinion that there was no connection in historical sources until the middle of the 16th century between 1480 and liberation from long-term dependence, believes that the decisive battle, which de facto put an end to the Horde rule, took place in 1472 near Aleksin. The same opinion was expressed earlier by the Soviet historian A.K. Leont'ev. Michael Khodarkovsky points out that the characters themselves also modestly assessed the scale of what happened: “Akhmat Khan went to me, but the all-merciful God wished to save us from him and did so,” wrote Ivan III in 1481 in a letter to the Crimean Khan Mengli-Giray; The historian also believes that the fact that in the Akhmat's label to Ivan III (regardless of whether or not he is recognized as authentic) the khan explains his retreat by the fact that his people had no clothes, and the horses were blankets, and not by the successes of the grand ducal army.

The overthrow of the "Horde yoke", the idea of which stems from the biblical texts about the "Babylonian captivity", and in one form or another is found in Russian sources since the 13th century, was applied to the events of 1480 starting with the "Kazan history" (no earlier than 1560- x years). Ugra acquired the status of the last and decisive confrontation from the historians of the 16th century for the reason that it was the last major invasion of the Great Horde on the lands of the Moscow principality. From Nikolai Karamzin, who used the word "yoke" in the form of an artistic epithet in the original meaning of "a collar worn around the neck" ("bowed the neck under the yoke of barbarians"), possibly borrowing this term from the Polish author of the 16th century Maciej Miechowski, originates from Russian historiography, the term "Tatar yoke", as well as the provision on its overthrow by Ivan III.

Memory

During the celebration of the 500th anniversary of standing on the Ugra River in 1980, a monument was unveiled on the river bank in honor of a significant event in Russian history that took place in 1480 within the Kaluga Territory.

One of the main national tasks of Russia was the desire to end the Horde dependence. The need for liberation was the main prerequisite for the unification of Russian territories. Only after taking the path of confronting the Horde during the reign, Moscow acquired the status of a national center for collecting Russian lands.

Moscow managed to build relations with the Horde in a new way. By the end of the 15th century, the Golden Horde as a single power no longer existed. In place of the Golden Horde, autonomous khanates arose - the Crimean, Astrakhan, Nogai, Kazan, Siberian and Big Horde. Only Akhmat, the khan of the Great Horde, which occupied a significant area of the Middle Volga region, strove to recreate the former unity of the Golden Horde. He wanted to receive tribute from Russia, as from a vassal of the Horde, and give labels to Russian princes. Other khans during the time of Ivan III did not make such demands on Muscovite Rus. On the contrary, they viewed the Moscow prince as an ally in the struggle against Akhmat's claims to the Golden Horde throne and power.

The Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat, who considered himself the heir to the Golden Horde kings, in the 1470s. began to demand tribute from Ivan III and a trip to the Horde for a label. This was very inappropriate for Ivan III. He was in friction with his younger brothers - Moscow appanage princes Andrei Galitsky and Boris Volotsky. (They were unhappy that the Grand Duke did not share with them the Dmitrov lot of their brother Yuri, who died childless in 1472) Ivan III compromised with his brothers, and sent an embassy to Axmat in 1476. We have no information whether it carried tribute to the khan. Obviously, the matter was limited to gifts, because soon Khan Akhmat again demanded the "Horde exit" and the personal appearance of the Moscow prince in the Big Horde.

According to legend, which N.M. Karamzin placed in his "History of the Russian State", Ivan III trampled the khan's basma (letter) and ordered to tell Akhmat that if he did not leave him alone, the same thing would happen to the khan as to his basma. Modern historians consider the Basma episode nothing more than a legend. This behavior does not correspond to the character of Ivan III - as a politician, nor to his actions in the summer and autumn of 1480.

In June 1480, Akhmat set out on a campaign with a 100,000-strong army. He was going to attack Ivan of Moscow even earlier, but the Crimean Khan, a friend of Moscow and an enemy of the Great Horde, attacked Akhmat and thwarted his plans. Akhmat's ally in the campaign in 1480 was the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV, but he did not help the khan, as civil strife began in Lithuania, and the Crimeans began to devastate the Lithuanian possessions.

Akhmat approached the tributary of the Oka, the Ugra, which flowed in the Ryazan land near the southern Russian borders. The Russian army, led by Ivan III and Ivan the Young, took up defensive positions. The whole August and September passed in minor skirmishes. The Russians, armed with cannons, firearms and crossbows (crossbows), inflicted significant damage on the Tatar cavalry. Seeing this, the prince Ivan Molodoy, as well as many governors, hoped for success and wanted to fight the Tatars. But the Grand Duke doubted. In his immediate circle there were people who advised Ivan III to make peace with the khan.

Meanwhile, Moscow was preparing for the invasion. Built by order of Ivan III new the brick Kremlin could withstand a siege. However, the cautious Ivan III ordered his second wife - the grand duchess Sophia take refuge in the north in Beloozero. With Sophia, the Moscow treasury also left the capital. Muscovites were confused by this. When the Moscow prince arrived in the capital, the townspeople greeted him with indignation, thinking that he did not want to protect them. The clergy sent two letters to Ivan III. In their letters, the fathers of the Russian Orthodox Church called on the Grand Duke to resolutely fight the Horde. Ivan III was still in doubt. He decided to spend in Moscow great advice and summoned his son-co-ruler. However, Ivan Molodoy refused his father's order to leave the Ugra and come to Moscow. The Moscow ruler had to return to Ugra.

In October, the Horde tried twice to cross the Ugra, but both times were repulsed. Ivan III, still not believing in victory, went to negotiations with Akhmat. Akhmat set humiliating conditions: he would grant the prince if he asked for peace at the stirrup of the khan's horse. As a result, the negotiations fell through. Akhmat still stayed at the Ugra, and on November 11, 1480, he took his troops to the Volga steppes. Soon Akhmat died: his opponent, the Siberian Khan Ivak, stabbed him while sleeping. Ivak sent a messenger to Moscow to say: "Your enemy and mine, the villain of Russia, lies in the grave." The Big Horde began to disintegrate, plundered by the neighboring khanates. Thus, the yoke, which had lasted for 240 years, fell. Rus became finally independent.

"GOD SAVE YOUR KINGDOM AND GIVE YOU VICTORY"

Then they heard in Moscow about Akhmat's campaign, which walked slowly, waiting for news from Casimir. John foresaw everything: as soon as the Golden Horde moved, Mengli-Girey, his loyal ally, on condition with him attacked the Lithuanian Podolia and thus distracted Casimir from cooperating with Akhmat. Knowing that the latter left only wives, children and elders in his Ulus, John ordered the Crimean Tsarevich Nordoulat and Voevoda of Zvenigorod, Prince Vasil Nozdrevaty, to sit on ships with a small detachment and sail there on the Volga in order to defeat the defenseless Horde, or at least frighten Hana. In a few days Moscow was filled with warriors. The leading army was already standing on the banks of the Oka. The son of the Grand Duke, young John, set out with all the regiments from the capital to Serpukhov on June 8; and his uncle, Andrey the Lesser, is from his Lot. The Tsar himself remained in Moscow for six weeks; finally, having learned about Akhmat's approach to the Don, on July 23 he went to Kolomna, entrusting the safekeeping of the capital to his uncle, Mikhail Andreevich Vereisky, and Boyar Prince Ivan Yuryevich, the clergy, merchants and people. In addition to the Metropolitan, there was also the Archbishop of Rostov, Vassian, an elder zealous for the glory of the fatherland. Ioannov's wife left with her yard for Dmitrov, from where she departed on ships to the borders of Belaozero; and his mother, the nun Martha, heeding the convictions of the clergy, remained in Moscow to the consolation of the people.

The Grand Duke himself took command of the army, beautiful and numerous, which stood on the banks of the Oka River, ready for battle. All of Russia with hope and fear awaited the consequences. John was in the position of Demetrius Donskoy, who was on his way to fight Mamai: he had better-organized regiments, the most experienced governor, more glory and greatness; but by the maturity of years, natural composure, caution disposed not to believe blind happiness, which sometimes is stronger than valor in battles, he could not calmly think that one hour would decide the fate of Russia; that all his magnanimous plans, all his successes, slow, gradual, could end in the death of our army, in the ruins of Moscow, in a new grave bondage of our fatherland, and only from impatience: for the Golden Horde now or tomorrow should have disappeared according to its own, internal reasons destruction. Demetrius defeated Mamai in order to see the ashes of Moscow and pay tribute to Tokhtamysh: proud Vitovt, despising the remnants of the Kapchak Khanate, wanted to crush them with one blow and destroyed his army on the banks of the Vorskla. John had the popularity not of a warrior, but of a sovereign; and the glory of the latter consists in the integrity of the State, not in personal courage: the integrity preserved by careful evasiveness is more glorious than the proud courage that exposes the people to disaster. These thoughts seemed prudent to the Grand Duke and some of the Boyars, so he wished, if possible, to remove the decisive battle. Akhmat, hearing that the banks of the Oka to the Ryazan limits were everywhere occupied by Ioann's army, went from the Don past Mtsensk, Odoev and Lyubutsk to Ugra, hoping to unite there with the Royal regiments or enter Russia from the side from which he was not expected. The Grand Duke, having ordered his son and brother to go to Kaluga and stand on the left bank of the Ugra, himself came to Moscow, where the inhabitants of the posad moved to the Kremlin with their most precious estate and, seeing John, imagined that he was fleeing from the Khan. Many shouted in horror: “The Emperor is giving us over to the Tatars! He burdened the land with taxes and did not pay tribute to the Ordinance! He angered the Tsar and does not stand for the fatherland! " This popular displeasure, according to one Chronicler, so upset the Grand Duke that he did not enter the Kremlin, but stopped in Krasnoe Selo, announcing that he had arrived in Moscow for advice with matter, the clergy and the Boyars. "Go boldly to the enemy!" - all spiritual and secular dignitaries said to him unanimously. Archbishop Vassian, a gray-haired, decrepit old man, in a magnanimous outburst of zealous love for the fatherland exclaimed: “Are mortals afraid of death? Rock is inevitable. I am old and weak; but I will not fear the sword of the Tatars, I will not turn my face away from its brilliance. " - John wanted to see his son and ordered him to be in the capital with Daniel Kholmsky: this ardent young man did not go, answering his parent: "We are waiting for the Tatars"; and to Kholmsky: "It is better for me to die here than to leave the army." The Grand Duke yielded to the general opinion and gave his word to strongly oppose the Khan. At this time he made peace with the brothers, whose ambassadors were in Moscow; promised to live with them amicably, to endow them with new volosts, demanding only that they hurry to him with their military squad to save the fatherland. Mother, Metropolitan, Archbishop Vassian, good advisers, and most of all the danger of Russia, to the credit of both sides, stopped the enmity of the blood brothers. - John took measures to protect the cities; dispatched Dmitrovtsev to Pereslavl, Moskvityan to Dmitrov; ordered to burn the villages around the capital and on October 3, having accepted the blessing from the Metropolitan, he went to the army. No one more zealous than the Clergy did not intercede then for the freedom of the fatherland and for the need to establish it with the sword. Primate Gerontius, marking the Emperor with the cross, said with emotion: “May God preserve your Kingdom and give you victory, like David and Constantine of old! Take courage and be strong, O spiritual son! as a true warrior of Christ. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep: you are not a mercenary! Deliver the flock of words handed over to you by God from the beast that is now coming. The Lord is our champion! " All Spirituals said: Amen! wake up tacos! and they begged the Grand Duke not to listen to the imaginary friends of the world, insidious or faint-hearted.

"MANY ROADS WILL BE TO RUSSIA"

Akhmat, who was not allowed across the Ugra by the Moscow regiments, boasted all summer: "God will give you winter: when all the rivers become, there will be many roads to Russia." Fearing that this threat would be fulfilled, John, as soon as Ugra became on October 26, ordered his son, brother Andrei Menshiy and the governors with all the regiments to retreat to Kremenets in order to fight with united forces; this order terrified the military men, who rushed to run to Kremenets, thinking that the Tatars had already crossed the river and were chasing them; but John was not content with a retreat to Kremenets: he gave the order to retreat from Kremenets to Borovsk, promising to give battle to the Tatars in the vicinity of this city. The chroniclers again say that he continued to obey evil people, money-lovers, rich and obese Christian traitors, Busurmans' connivors. But Akhmat did not intend to take advantage of the retreat of the Russian troops; Having stood on the Ugra until November 11, he went back through the Lithuanian volosts, Serenskaya and Mtsenskaya, devastating the lands of his ally Casimir, who, being busy with household chores and distracted by the Crimean Khan's raid on Podolia, again did not fulfill his promise. One of the Akhmatovs' sons entered the Moscow volosts, but was driven away by the news of the Grand Duke's proximity, although only the Grand Duke's brothers followed him. The chronicles say differently about the reasons for Akhmatov's retreat: it is said that when the Russians began to retreat from the Ugra, the enemy, thinking that they were giving up the coast to him and wanting to fight, ran in the opposite direction in fear. But let us suppose that the Tatars thought that the Russians were retreating to lure them into battle; yet they retreated rather than attacked; therefore, there was nothing for the Tatars to flee for; then the Grand Duke gave the order to his troops to retreat from the Ugra, when this river became, it became on October 26; Let us suppose that several days elapsed between its establishment and the order of the Grand Duke, but still not fifteen, for the khan left Ugra only on November 11; therefore, even if we admit that the Tatars fled, seeing the retreat of the Russians, we will have to admit that they then stopped and, having waited until November 11, then finally set out on the return campaign. Other chroniclers say more plausibly that from Dmitriev's day (October 26) it became winter and the rivers all became, severe frosts began, so that it was impossible to look; the Tatars were naked, barefoot, they were skinned; then Akhmat got scared and ran away on November 11. In some chronicles we find the news that Akhmat fled, fearing the Grand Duke's reconciliation with his brothers. All these reasons can be taken together: Casimir did not come to the rescue, severe frosts make it difficult even to look, and at such and such a time of the year it is necessary to go forward, to the north, with a naked and barefoot army and, above all, to withstand a battle with a numerous enemy, with whom after Mamaia Tatars did not dare to engage in open battles; finally, the circumstance that mainly prompted Akhmat to attack John, namely the strife between the latter and his brothers, now no longer existed.