By
Kelly Raftery
Back in the olden days, when I completed my Russian Studies degrees, we were taught about something that was referred to as the “Tatar Yoke.” This rather inaccurate term referred to the Mongol (not Tatar) invasion and control of the burgeoning city-states that would eventually become Russia in the 13th to 15th centuries.
Many
an evening I would sit around a table groaning with food, consuming small
crystal glasses of ice-cold vodka toasts and then listen, fascinated, as a Russian
who was sharing the meal would begin to expound on the evils done by the
“Tatars” to Russians, Russia and the world in general
. This was not a philosophical, historical argument, but a heated, emotional
presentation about if only Russia had not been invaded by the Golden Horde, it
would be a modern, western democracy today. My host would often describe how
the Mongols killed indiscriminately, devastated the embryonic Russian systems
of governance and religion, introduced “oriental despotism” and made Russia a
“backwards” society, which lagged by hundreds of years behind Europe. “What
would Russia be today, if not for those filthy, barbaric Mongols?!?!” seemed to
be the summary statement of every prolonged speech detailing of the evils of
the Mongol Invasion.
A Russian depiction of the Golden Horde's attack on Suzdal. |
Now,
as an American, this always struck me as odd, mostly because if you ask an
American about, say, their feelings regarding the American Revolution, you
would probably get a shrug and “Uh, um...it was a good thing?” No one in
my country could expound emotionally on the crimes against nascent American
society committed by the British, and really, much of our history is something
we find only in history tomes. But, in Russia, the Mongol invasion was (and is)
a deeply personal subject and its negative influences on society were evident
and regretted to modern times.
Fast
forward a decade or so and I find myself married to someone who may very well
be descended from Genghis Khan (an astounding eight percent of men alive today
in the former Mongol Empire are, read a bit more about this factoid here) and my perspective shifts to wonder about
what the impact of those Mongols on Russia really was. Which is not to assert
that the Mongols were nice, peace-loving herders who asked pretty please before
they invaded every civilization between the Pacific and the Caspian, but I have
often noted that history’s narrative is quite variable, depending on point of
view.
Mongol warriors in battle. |
The
current view of Mongol dominance over Russia is that while brutal initially,
over time, it essentially became a financial agreement, by which the ruling
lords of Russia paid a tribute to the Golden Horde and for the most part, they
were left to their own devices. (An interesting side note is that the Russian
word for money—dengi—is one of many bits of vocabulary left behind by
the Mongols, along with loshad’ (horse), bazaar (market) and sunduk (wooden chest).) As
long as the money kept coming, the Mongols had no interest in imposing their
worldview on the Slavs, or any of the other peoples that they conquered. In
fact, the Russian Orthodox Church emerged after two centuries of Mongol rule
stronger than it had been previously. However, if a municipality decided that
it was no longer interested in paying the Mongols, retribution was swift and
harsh.
After
its collapse, the Golden Horde left Russia a postal system, military and
government organizations. Russian princes adorned themselves in silks and
indulged in other luxuries that only efficient Mongol operation of the Silk
Road made possible. The Mongol invasion and occupation also helped to bring forth the concept of a united Russia. On September 8, 1380 Prince Dmitry Donskoi united multiple Princes of
Slavic city-states into one united Russian force to fight off the Mongols
during the Battle of Kulikova. While the Mongols did not actually leave for
another hundred years, this temporary victory is often pointed to as the key
moment that formed the Russian nation.
Oh, what a fine read. Lovely stuff, and a tale well told.
ReplyDelete— jules
Interesting post! Genghis was also a master of propaganda--it worked well for his purposes if stories of his bloodbaths preceded his army. That occasionally encouraged towns to surrender before he even showed up!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - a man before his time. The more I read about him, the more fascinating he becomes...as does the structure he put together to run his Empire.
DeleteThanks Kelly!
ReplyDelete