Vasily Yan Baty. Baty's book read online

I continue to get acquainted with the Tatar-Mongol invasion. The book about Batu Khan, unexpectedly or not, liked and hooked more than the first, dedicated to the deeds of his grandfather Genghis Khan.

Perhaps this is because the events of this book are closer to us, because we are talking about the conquest of Russian lands, the destruction and burning of Russian cities and villages. Distant Khorezm, which occupied the main positions in the first book, arouses more abstract interest, as something distant and little known (for me). And here - livelier, closer, and therefore scarier. Or maybe it’s also because I sometimes find it difficult to get an oriental flavor, and in the first book I always got confused in the characters and their names. But here this is not the case, here everyone acquires bright and unique features.

The author, as before, uses the technique "from two sides", showing us the events alternately through the eyes of the Mongols, then the Russians, then the prince, then the simple peasant, leads the reader either into the yurt of Batu Khan himself, or into the dwelling of the poor. And over time, both of them cease to be simply "ours" and "not ours", we see with our own eyes their lives, experiences, goals and aspirations. To some extent, the reader is imbued with the conquering philosophy of the Mongols, who decided to become conquerors of the universe.

Although, of course, this makes it no less painful to read about what these same conquerors did in the lands they conquered. And about the feuds between the Russian princes at such a time, and about how some of them hoped that the Mongol invasion would even be useful for them, would help weaken the primordial enemies-neighbors ... And about how some underestimated the power of the Tatar army, hoping , if necessary, defeat him alone ... And about the courage of individual small groups, in fact, partisan detachments, which, without having a large organized army nearby to which they could join, nevertheless continued to fight as best they could and inflicted serious damage separate Tatar detachments ...

Vasily Yan, as before, will tell us a lot about the life and life of people, both Slavs and Tatars, about their customs and traditions. We "with our own eyes" will see the clash of two completely different cultures, which is manifested even in small things. And also collision as if two elements, one of which is a huge army, irresistibly rushing to "crush and kill", take valuable booty, take away slaves, and the other is Russian winter, Russian forests, swamps and roads, the very ones, as in the song: "Off-road to overcome - not a thing, but how to overcome the road?" Not only Mongols, as is known from history, were shattered by this natural barriers, where, it seems, the gods themselves stand up to protect the “Urusuts”, who, being born and growing up on these lands, often themselves are somewhat similar to this harsh nature. Although this time the Tatars turned out to be stronger ...

On the pages - it's inevitable - there will be a lot cruelty, violence, blood and pain. There will be cowards, and traitors, and sycophants who want to snatch a tidbit from someone else's table. But there will be examples of courage, willpower, love, kindness and devotion. And they, even among all the horrors of what is happening, give a ray of hope.

Wolfgang Kazak, a German Slavist and literary critic, described V. Jan's trilogy as follows: “This epic is based on a thorough study of the sources and performed with great conscientiousness; The trilogy captivates the reader with the fascination of the action.

The historical trilogy "Invasion of the Mongols" consists of three novels:

"Genghis Khan" (1934-1939) - about the conquest of Central Asia;
"Batu" (1939-1941) - about the conquest of North-Eastern Russia;
"To the "last" sea" (1942-1954) - about the conquest of Southern Russia and the campaign to the west to the Adriatic Sea.
In 1942, an abbreviated version for children of the second novel in the trilogy, Batu, was created. It was called "Invasion of Batu".
The first two books of the trilogy aroused great interest among readers, including at the front, and in April 1942 Vasily Yan was awarded the Stalin Prize. The third book was published after the death of the author, in 1955.
The theme of the struggle of the ancestors of the peoples of the USSR with the Mongol conquerors in the XIII century. proved to be very relevant during the Great Patriotic War.

Vasily Grigorievich Yan (1875-1954)

His real name is Yanchevetsky. He took the pseudonym "Yan" much later, having already become a well-known publicist and author of plays for the city theater in Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The future writer was born in Kiev in the family of a teacher, teacher of Latin and Greek.
Graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University.
V. Yan's life was filled with many travels, adventures, changes in places and fields of activity. He lived in England, in many places in Central Asia; during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905-1906. worked as a war correspondent for the St. Petersburg Telegraph Agency in the Far East; taught a lot. Then again work as a correspondent, but already a telegraph agency in Turkey, and with the outbreak of the First World War - in Romania.
In 1918-1919. in the rank of colonel, he worked in the field printing house of the Russian army under Admiral Kolchak in Siberia. He was the editor and publisher of the front-line daily newspaper Vperyod (1919). In 1925-1927. served in Samarkand as an economist for Uzbek banks. Returning to Moscow in 1928, he began writing historical stories and short stories.
In total, he created 9 historical novels and stories, about 30 stories, plays and scripts, many essays and articles, as well as poems.

V. Yan's trilogy "Invasion of the Mongols"

The novel "Genghis Khan"

Statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia
In the first novel, the writer tells the story of the life of the boy Temujin, whom his father named after the enemy he killed. The boy grows up without a father (he was poisoned), the family is in poverty and flees across the Mongolian steppe from numerous enemies. Temujin's brother betrays his family, and the young man kills his brother without hesitation. Temujin has been living in slavery for 14 years, fighting with a man who was his blood brother. And, finally, the Great Steppe proclaims him its only ruler, Genghis Khan.
The main part of the novel covers the period 1219-1220.
The author tells about the formation of the expansionist program of the Horde ruler Genghis Khan, shows the complex preparation of the conquering khan for battles with one of the mature feudal regions of Central Asia - Khorezm. Khorezm is an ancient region of Central Asia, centered on the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River. Irrigation agriculture, crafts and trade were developed here. First mentioned in sources from the 7th century. BC e. The Great Silk Road passed through Khorezm. The state of Khorezmshahs was at that time the richest and was a huge empire that stretched for many hundreds of kilometers, including on the modern map completely Turkmenistan, Iran, partly Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan.
And now the hordes of Genghis Khan capture and ruin this state. Steeped in political intrigues, the ruling circles of Khorezm were unable to hold back the onslaught of Genghis Khan, and the masses, deprived of experienced leadership, also could not actively resist the conquerors.
This novel is not only about the victory of Genghis Khan, but also about the defeat and fall of the Khorezm Khan and the decline of his then powerful state.

Roman "Batu"

The second part of the trilogy is devoted to the description of the conquests of the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu, who decided to subjugate the Russian lands.
His great grandfather has numerous sons and grandchildren. And in the Chinese campaign, the Great Khan dies, and the struggle for the Horde throne begins. In the steppe, while hunting, they break their backs (according to Mongolian laws, not a single drop of Khan's blood should be spilled on the ground) to Jochi, the son of Chingiz and the father of Batu. The young prince Batu hides in the steppe for the time being. And now he leads the campaign against Russia

Batu is the successor to the work of Genghis Khan, the successor to his conquest program. Genghis Khan fulfilled part of the intended goal, capturing half of the world, and Batu must conquer the other half. The novel shows how Batu, having created the center of his Horde state on the southern Volga, moved on to expansion in Eastern Europe.
Before the reader, there are pictures of Batu's preparation for campaigns against Russia, and then the campaigns themselves, which ended with the capture and ruin of Ryazan, Moscow, and Vladimir.
The writer draws attention to the attitude of feudal Russia to the Horde invaders, to energetic attempts to counter the onslaught of the Tatar-Mongol khans.
In decisive battles, Batu and his Horde won victories. Why? The writer gives the following answer to this question: the feudal fragmentation of the Russian land weakened the forces of the state; the princes and feudal lords did not have a stable national identity, but there was a readiness of many princes (for example, the Ryazan prince Gleb) to betray their country and each other; medieval Russia was not ready for organized resistance to the invaders.
At the same time, the author sees among the people people who are able to show genuine patriotism in the fight against the enemy: Evpatiy Kolovrat, Toropko, Ratmir, and others.

The novel "To the last" sea"

The third and final part of the trilogy is devoted directly to the theme of the expansion of the Horde rulers in Asia and Europe and the selfless struggle of the peoples who fell victim to them. The difficult political situation in Eastern Europe in the early 40s of the 13th century, the growth and strengthening of the Horde state on the southern Volga, Batu's claims to complete the program of Horde conquests on the European continent - access to the shores of the "last" (Adriatic) sea are shown. The novel shows preparations for the campaigns of the Tatar-Mongol hordes, first to the middle Dnieper, then to the lands of Poland, Moravia, Hungary, and the Adriatic.
This is at the same time the story of the ruin and conquest of Russia. The Mongols advance with the onset of winter, when all roads and rivers are frozen over. The army is divided into tens, hundreds, thousands. Iron discipline.

Mongolian horsemen
The fury of the Mongols is great - and now the whole Russian land is burning. The army goes to the West - to the sunset - to where the great Genghis Khan bequeathed, to the "last" sea. And here is the Adriatic Sea. But the unpretentious Mongolian horse, having tasted the water, snorts and turns its face up: salty. But it is impossible without a horse, and discontent is brewing in the army: the house is farther away, and the ends of the earth are not visible. Discord is everywhere: both in the army and in the distant Mongolian capital of Karakorum - there is a bloody struggle for the Khan's throne.
The Kiev campaign of Batu is shown by the author in detail. The reader learns about the heroic defense of Kiev, about the courage and political maturity of the defenders of the ancient Russian capital: the entire population stood up to defend the city, regardless of position, occupation, age, gender. The writer cites the following scene: before the start of the assault, Batu asks a Russian prisoner a question: “How many troops are in Kiev?” And he answers him: “How many people, so many warriors. Now everyone took up the ax, the horn.” The people of Kiev are ready to defend their city, V. Yan perfectly described the direct preparation of the inhabitants for the siege and the fighting of the people of Kiev with the enemy on the city walls, on the streets, in temples. “It was not with courage, not with strength and valor that the enemies overcame,” the novel says, “but by their innumerable numbers, when for every Russian, and often not a warrior at all, but simply an artisan or city dweller who had not previously held a sword in his hands, there were three -four well-armed, battle-experienced Tatar warriors. However, no one asked for mercy, they only asked God for strength to endure to the end.
But, having taken possession of Kiev, completely destroyed in street battles, the Tatar-Mongols could not profit from any prey here. The heroic defense of Kiev is a repetition of the courageous defense of Ryazan and Vladimir, confirmation that the Russian people as a whole, despite all the difficulties and military failures, retained the ability to provide strong resistance to the invaders.
Further on the pages of the novel tells about the advancement of Batu's army after the Kiev campaign further to the west, about the march of the Horde ruler to the "last" sea, about the military operations of the Tatar-Mongols in a number of countries of Eastern and Central Europe.
But Batu's large-scale conquest program was not implemented. This was prevented not only by the resistance of the peoples of the conquered countries, but also by the growing fear of Batu for his rear. He was worried about the lack of real control over the political life of the Russian lands, the independent behavior of Veliky Novgorod, as well as the intensification of strife in the ruling house of Genghisides itself. Therefore, Batu was forced to abandon further struggle along the coast of the "last" sea and return to the southern Volga to the Sarai he created.
Along with real historical figures, the trilogy shows fictional, generalized characters from the people. Using their examples, the writer shows the life of the common people, their struggle for freedom, love, and their hatred of the enemy.

Mongol invasion - 2

Reader!
This story will show "... the selfless valor of man and insidious villainy; a desperate struggle for freedom and cruel violence;

Vile betrayal and true friendship; it will be told how the inhabitants of the conquered countries suffered immeasurably when they passed through their lands

The iron detachments of Batu Khan, who, like a chip on the crest of a sea wave, were carried by an avalanche of hundreds of thousands of horsemen and lowered on the banks of the great river

Itil, where this swarthy narrow-eyed leader founded the powerful kingdom of the Golden Horde.
From "Notes of Haji Rakhim".

PART ONE
GENGHIS KHAN'S WITNESS

If grief always smoked like fire
The whole world would be covered in smoke.
Shaheed from Balkh, 9th century.

Chapter 1
IN THE HUT OF THE EASTERN RECENT

A swarthy, dry hand quickly ran a reed over a narrow sheet of paper. The faqih recited in an undertone the lines that appeared one after another, inscribed

Arabic script.
The hut was quiet. The monotonous voice of the faqih was echoed by the monotonous rustle of continuous rain falling on the reed roof.
- "... Asking everyone who knows, I wanted to know about the will of Genghis Khan.
But misfortune befell me. In Bukhara I was seized by the holy imams."
Declaring that I am a great sinner who does not honor Allah, they locked me in a vile, low iron cage. Crawling in it on all fours like

Hyena, I couldn't straighten up. My clothes had decayed, and I tied the ends of the holes. Once a day, the prison guard poured into my wooden bowl a cloudy

Water, but often forgot about it. Sometimes he brought a shackled slave, who, cursing, scraped the dirty floor of my cage with a hook. fit

Relatives of other prisoners looked at me with fear - after all, I was "cursed by the holy imams", "condemned to eternal death and now

And after death, where the fire will be his dwelling..." - the faqih straightened the burnt wick of the clay lamp and continued to read:
- "Once I noticed that near the cage, not afraid of ridicule and curses, there was a girl from a wandering tribe despised by the Kipchaks

Fire worshipers Luli. She gave me a handful of raisins and nuts and ran away. The next day she appeared again, wrapped in a long black

Shawl. The girl silently slipped along the prison wall and brought me a tortilla and a piece of melon.
Then, grasping the bars of the cage with swarthy fingers in silver rings, she gazed at me for a long time with her black, impenetrable eyes.

Eyes and whispered softly:
- Pray for me!
I thought she was laughing and turned away. But the next day she again stood near the cage and again insistently repeated:
- Pray for me to return my warrior, my happiness!
- I don't know how to pray, and why? After all, I am cursed by the holy imams!
- Imams are worse than crafty Eblis. They swell with malice and importance. If they cursed you, then you are a righteous man. Ask for the mercy of Allah and

For me and for those who are far away.
I promised to fulfill her request. The girl came a few more times. For her consolation, I said that I repeat at night nine nine times

Prayers that bring happiness.