Mamaevo massacre: did the Russians fight the Russians?
Most of the subjects of the Golden Horde were Russians. The fierce wars that Moscow waged with the Horde and which went on in the Horde kingdom itself were the wars of the Russians against the Russians.
Preparing for the decisive battle
After the destruction of the Begich's army on Vozha, Mamai flew into a rage and vowed to take revenge on “Konaz Mitka”. In 1379, the troops of a powerful nobleman attacked the Ryazan land. Mamai wanted to punish Prince Oleg Ryazansky for the participation of his regiments in the battle on Vozha. The bloodless Ryazan region could not resist. Oleg Ivanovich ran for the Oka. The Horde attacked and burned Pereyaslavl-Ryazan. Many people were taken to the Horde. Oleg Ivanovich was forced to enter into negotiations with Mamai and bow his head.
Both sides prepared for a decisive battle, assembled regiments, made alliances. The Grand Duke of Moscow made a campaign against the Bryansk principality, took the cities of Trubchevsk and Starodub. The brother of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Yagaila, Dmitry Olgerdovich Bryansky, who was sitting in Trubchevsk, went over to the side of Moscow with his retinue. In July 1380, news came to Moscow about the beginning of the campaign of the Mamaeva Horde. Dmitry Ivanovich has established excellent short and long range reconnaissance. Russian envoys and merchants reported on events in the Horde. Guard squads stood at the border. Muscovite Rus, according to modern researchers, fielded 50-60 thousand soldiers (according to other sources, up to 150 thousand people). Of these, a third or a little more were soldiers of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The great sovereign gathered almost all the regiments of North-Eastern Russia. Perhaps Novgorodians and part of the Tver people joined him. "Zadonshchina" also mentions Ryazan boyars among those who died on the Kulikovo field. Obviously, they brought their troops.
Also on the side of the great sovereign of Moscow, obviously, the servicemen of the Horde fought: the descendants of the Polovtsy, the "Mongols" and the Tatars. They played the role of light cavalry and reconnaissance. The regiments of the Lithuanian princes Andrew and Dmitry Olgerdovich joined the grand ducal army. Andrey was the governor of Dmitry in Pskov, and Dmitry was in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, but they also brought in regiments from their former inheritances, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia: Polotsk, Bryansk, Starodub and Trubchevsk. By birth, these "Lithuanians" were Russian-Russians. As a result, horse princely and boyar squads, heavy infantry of the Grand Duke, militias of cities, partly villages, took part in the battle.
Mamai mobilized all the subordinate princes of the White (Golden) Horde and fielded from 100 to 300 thousand soldiers (there is no exact data). At the same time, the Horde army was twice as large as the forces of Muscovite Rus. Mamai concluded an alliance with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagailo and the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg. According to the Moscow Chronicle of the end of the 1380th century, Mamai walked “with all the princes of Ordin and with all the might of the Tatars and Polovtsi. Most of all, he named many rats: Besermens and Armenians, Ryazy and Cherkasy and Burtases, with them, together with the same thoughts, the great Lithuanian prince Yagailo Olgerdovich with all the power of Lithuanian and Lyatskoy, Oleg Ivanovskoy and Ryazan princes with them. In order to confront Dmitry Ivanovich's heavily armed infantry, Mamai hired Western mercenaries (Genoese or Venetian infantry). At the same time, the lord of the western part of the Horde found himself in a situation of war on two fronts. From the east, he was pressed by Khan Tokhtamysh, who was supported by Tamerlane. Tokhtamysh's troops occupied the eastern part of the Horde state - the Blue Horde, and invaded the White Horde. In the spring of XNUMX, Tokhtamysh's warriors appeared in the Azov region. Therefore, Mamai gathered a large army to "kill two birds with one stone." First, crush the impudent "Mitka", destroy and plunder its lands. Then turn against Tokhtamysh.
Troop movement
The gathering of Russian regiments was appointed in Kolomna on August 15, 1380. The ambassador arrived here with Mamai with a demand to obey. Negotiations yielded nothing. Already in Kolomna, the primary battle formation was formed: Dmitry Ivanovich and the okolnichy Timofey Velyaminov led the Big Regiment; Vladimir Andreevich - Right Hand regiment; left hand regiment - Gleb Bryansky. On August 20, the grand duke's army left Kolomna and went west along the Oka and the mouth of the Lopasnya defeated the camp. Here, intelligence reported that the enemy was on the Meche River, the right tributary of the Don. There, at the border of Lithuania, Mamai was waiting for the approach of Yagaila's regiments.
Since the Horde did not attack the Grand Duchy of Moscow and other lands of North-Eastern Russia, part of the forces remaining there was withdrawn from Moscow. At the same time, patrols on the Oka are being strengthened. On August 26-27, Russian regiments crossed the Oka. The great sovereign decided to meet the enemy and defeat Mamai before uniting with Yagaila. The Russian regiments marched south-east, to the left bank of the Don. Long-range patrols watched the enemy all the time. Don covered the grand ducal army from a possible surprise attack from the enemy. On September 6, Dmitry's advanced detachments were near the confluence of the Nepryadva River into the Don. Here they defeated the Horde reconnaissance detachment. From the fugitives, Mamai learned about the appearance of the "Uruses". The Russian command expected the Mamai horde to appear in the evening, but it did not appear on the 7th.
The Grand Duke convened a council of war. We discussed the situation. Don well defended the Russian regiments. Mamai, remembering the fate of Begich, could abandon the battle, put up a barrier and rush with the cavalry to Moscow, ruin many lands and cities. Or go to join the Russian-Lithuanian army. As a result, Dmitry Ivanovich offered to go against the enemy himself. The council supported the great sovereign. On the night of September 8, 1380, Russian troops crossed the Don along several built bridges and ford (cavalry), crossed to the right bank and settled above the mouth of the Nepryadva. The Grand Duke ordered to destroy the bridges. Having traveled 200 km from the Kolomna fortress to the Don, the Russian squads entered the Kulikovo field. The place was convenient for fighting the Horde. The left flank was covered by a dense oak forest, the right - by river thickets, ravines and gullies. As a result, the Horde could not use their trump card - more numbers and cavalry for deep coverage. They had to attack head-on, where the grand ducal's heavy infantry and cavalry could withstand the enemy's blow. Ahead were the Sentry and Advance regiments of the princes Simeon of Obolensky and John of Tarusa, who were supposed to beat down the offensive ardor of the Horde. In the center is the Great Regiment under the command of Velyaminov (the Grand Duke himself in the armor of a simple warrior stood up in line so that his death would not affect the morale of the soldiers), on the flanks - the Right Hand regiment under the command of Prince Andrei Olgerdovich and the Left Hand regiment of princes Vasily Yaroslavsky and Theodore Molozhsky. In the rear there was also a reserve regiment in case of a breakthrough of the "wall". On the left wing (according to other sources, on the right), an ambush regiment was set up in the forest, headed by the best commanders of Moscow Rus Vladimir Andreevich and Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky. The ambush regiment was cavalry and had to strike at a critical moment in the battle.
Poboische
The Horde army appeared at about 10 am. Mamai pitched a tent at the top of the Red Hill. The place was inconvenient for a horse attack, but the ruler of the White Horde decided to launch an offensive. Ahead was light cavalry, in the center of the infantry were Western mercenaries, reinforced by dismounted cavalry, heavily armed regiments on the flanks. There was also a strong reserve. Mamai planned to pin down the Russians in the center and break through on the flanks, entering the enemy's rear. The battle began at about 12 o'clock with a duel between Peresvet and the Horde warrior-batyr Chulubei. Both heroes were killed. Then the Horde light cavalry tried to crush the Russian Guard Cavalry Regiment. Russian squads gave a strong rebuff. After that, the entire first line of the Mamai Horde went forward. The guard regiment retreated to the Peredovoye, but he also could not withstand a powerful blow and fell back to the main forces. The Big Regiment and flanking regiments entered the battle.
The fierce hand-to-hand combat lasted two hours. Mamai's heavy cavalry was still able to punch a road on the left flank. The left-hand regiment and part of the forces of the Great Regiment moved back. Of the battle formations of the Russian army, only the regiment of the Right Hand survived, here the governors even had to restrain the soldiers who were eager to counterattack. The reserve situation on the left flank could not be reversed. The Horde went into the rear of the grand ducal army. The Russians turned the front to face the enemy cavalry that had broken through. Here the remnants of the Advanced, Big Regiments and the reserve fought. A new battle line was formed. Mamai, anticipating victory, threw all his forces into battle, including the reserve. In general, little is known about the course of the battle, sources say little. It is known that at the most critical moment, when the Horde were already close to victory, the Ambush Regiment struck. The troops were mixed, the "turmoil" began. The Horde fought in the ring of the Russian troops, the Russians among the Horde regiments.
At the same time, the Horde, although they did not expect such a blow, resisted. However, the blow of the soldiers of Vladimir Andreevich and Dmitry Bobrok-Volynts allowed to divert the forces and attention of the Horde, to stop the onslaught of the main forces of Mamai on the Big Regiment, and the main forces to regroup. The main Russian forces went over to a counterattack, the Right Hand regiment went forward. The Horde wavered and ran. Mamai abandoned his troops, but left a barrier at the camps (marching camp, carts). The last battle took place here. The Horde men were crushed. The chronicler noted: “And soon break that one and all the camps from the izem, you carried their wealth, and gnasha to the river Mechi; that multitude of Tatars istoposh ”.
Thus, the grand ducal army won a complete victory. The Horde army was destroyed and suffered huge losses during the battle and pursuit. 7-8 soldiers from each ten were killed. Soon the power of Mamai came to an end. Tokhtamysh, who had the right to rule in the Horde, finished off Mamai in October-November 1380. Most of the temnik went over to the side of the lawful Khan Tokhtamysh and swore allegiance to him. Mamai fled to Crimea, where he was soon killed. However, the Russian regiments also ran out of cows in the Kulikovo field. Therefore, it was not possible to immediately throw off the power of the Horde. The Golden Horde had already collapsed, but retained a huge military potential. Soon Tokhtamysh will gather a large army and burn Moscow.
Civil war
Studying this period stories of the Russian state, it must be remembered that the "Mongols from Mongolia" and the "Mongol-Tatar yoke" are myths created in the Vatican in order to destroy and rewrite genuine Russian history in their own interests. In the West, they cannot accept the fact that the Russians have a more ancient history than the Germans, French, British or Italians. That many European cities stand on Slavic-Russian foundations - like Berlin, Vienna, Dresden or Venice. That the Russians are the direct heirs of the ancient northern civilization, the Aryan Scythians and the legendary Hyperboreans.
There were no many thousands of Mongols, representatives of the Mongoloid race in Russia. Most of the Horde's subjects were Rus, Rus-Scythians, Rus-Cumans, Rus-Alans, Tatars (Caucasians who have not yet lost their cultural relationship with the super-ethnos of the Rus). The Islamization and Arabization of the Horde distorted the cultural and linguistic code of the Horde elite, but the bulk of the population remained the same.
Therefore, the fierce wars that went on in the Horde itself, between the Horde and the Russian principalities, were the wars of the Russians against the Russians. It's true.
Reality is tragic. Much more tragic than it is customary to imagine. The Rus (Russians) in history have often fought each other fiercely than with external enemies. Ryazan, Moscow, Tver, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vilna, Sarai smashed each other. Therefore, the "nasty basurmans", "Tatars" constantly and easily switched to the service of the Moscow, Lithuanian-Russian, Ryazan princes, entered into marriage alliances, and entered the elite of the Russian state. And no "Mongoloid" traces were left in Russia, although in the conditions of the dominance of Mongoloid signs in mixed marriages, there should be many of them. "Mongols" and "Tatars" quietly joined the Russian nobility, became Russian boyars, princes.
We can see a similar picture in Europe, where peoples have been “constructing” for a long time. For example, in the X-XIII centuries. Poles-glades were the western branch of the Polyans-Rus who lived in the Middle Dnieper region. They could well become part of Kievan Rus. But fate turned out differently. Westernization and Catholicization turned the Slavic brothers into fierce enemies of Russia-Russia. "Lithuanians" in the Middle Ages were overwhelmingly Russian-Russians from Polotsk, Smolensk, Bryansk, Kiev, Minsk and Vilna. The state language was Russian. Only centuries of Westernization, Catholicization, Polonization and rewriting of history changed the situation. In the last century, the same situation has been observed in Little Russia, Novorossia, where an artificial ethnos - "Ukrainians" was created, "the history of Ukraine" was written. There were Russians, now “Ukrainians”. The Russian world was cut off even more.
The same was done with the White Horde. This was the Russian state. The process of degradation was caused by the Islamization and Arabization of the ruling elite of the Horde. The elite converted to Islam. This caused a sharp rejection of the main population of the horde-clans, which retained the return to the ancient faith of the Rus. In the "Legend of the Battle of Mama", the gods worshiped by the "filthy" are indicated: Perun, Salavat, Rekliy, Khors, Mohammed. That is, Islam was not yet the predominant religion in the Horde. Ordinary Horde people continued to worship the Russian gods Perun and Khors. "Reklius" is, most likely, the heritage of the Black Sea Tavro-Scythians, Hercules - Heracleos - Yaroslav.
The defeat of Mamai, the collapse of the Horde and the further rise of Moscow was associated with the Islamization of the Horde elite. The elite lost the support of the people. Orthodoxy, which during this period became truly Russian, having absorbed much of the ancient faith (the Almighty - Rod; God the Son - Khors; Theotokos - Rozhanitsy, Mokosh; George the Victorious - Perun; Saint Blasius - Veles, etc.), it turned out for ordinary Horde people are much closer, dearer than Islam.
The significance of 1380 is not only in the unification of the northeastern principalities and lands of Russia around Moscow. The battle showed that there was a new center of gravity for everything Russian, including the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia and the White Horde. In a century and a half, this center will restore the main nucleus of the great northern empire-civilization.
- Alexander Samsonov
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/; http://mil.ru/
- Dmitry Ivanovich, prince-warrior. War between Moscow and Tver
How Dmitry Ivanovich destroyed the Horde army on the Vozha river
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