Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'
The Mongol Empire invaded and conquered much of the Kievan Rus' in the mid-13th century, sacking numerous cities such as Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl and Vladimir, including the largest: Kiev and Chernigov. The siege of Kiev in 1240 by the Mongols is generally held to mark the end of the state of Kievan Rus', which had already been undergoing fragmentation. Many other principalities and urban centres in the northwest and southwest escaped complete destruction or suffered little to no damage from the Mongol invasion, including Galicia–Volhynia, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, and probably Rostov and Uglich.
The Mongol campaign was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River on 31 May 1223, which resulted in a Mongol victory over the forces of several principalities as well as the remnants of the Cumans under Köten. The Mongols retreated, having gathered their intelligence, which was the purpose of the reconnaissance-in-force. A full-scale invasion by Batu Khan followed, with most of Kievan Rus' overrun in 1236–1238. The Mongols captured Kiev in 1240 and moved west into Hungary and Poland. The heavy losses suffered by the Mongols during the invasion period significantly weakened subsequent campaigns, preventing the ruin of the Holy Roman Empire and more western countries.
The invasion was ended by the Mongol succession process upon the death of Ögedei Khan. Even those principalities who avoided physical conquest were eventually forced to accept Mongol supremacy in the form of tribute – as in the case of Galicia–Volhynia, Polotsk and Novgorod – if not outright vassalage, of the Golden Horde, until well into the 14th century. Although a Russian army defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, the Mongolian demands of tribute from Russian princes continued until about 1480.
The Mongol invasion caused significant destruction in the major cities of the Rus'. It was followed by the rise of Moscow as a major power center of the Russian people. Meanwhile, a series of succession crises caused the fracture of the Mongol Empire, and this eventually enabled the regrouped Russians, under the leadership of Ivan the Terrible, to defeat the successor states of the Mongol Empire such as the Khanate of Kazan and the Astrakhan Khanate to establish their own empire.
Background
The Mongols had plans to conquer Eastern Europe long before Batu's campaign in 1237. In 1207, Genghis Khan sent his eldest son Jochi to conquer the tribes north of the Selenga River and in the Irtysh valley, which included the lands of Eastern Europe in the Jochi Ulus. However, these plans were not implemented during the lifetime of Genghis Khan. In 1222–1224, Subutai and Jebe conducted a campaign with a 30,000-strong army in Transcaucasia and Southeastern Europe, which is traditionally considered as a reconnaissance. However, the Secret History of the Mongols and Rashid ad-Din state that the purpose of this campaign was to be supported by the forces of Jochi and included Cumania, Alania, Hungary, and Rus', including Kiev. The kurultai of 1235, after which the invasion of Europe took place, repeated these goals. The campaign of Subutai and his 30,000 troops to the Caspian steppes was a new step in the conquest of Eastern Europe, and it began in the late 1220s. In 1235, a kurultai was convened to outline a general Mongol campaign, in which the troops of other uluses were to take part. Ögedei sent Batu, Büri, Möngke, and other princes on a campaign to help Subutai, and each Chingizid led with him one or more tumens of the army. The Mongols prepared for an offensive in 1235 and early 1236 and subjugated the Bashkir tribes, who were forced to allocate several detachments to the Mongol army. The Mongols concentrated in the Caspian steppes in the autumn of 1236 under the general leadership of Jochi's son Batu. The first blow of the united Chingizid army targeted Volga Bulgaria.The princes of Galicia–Volhynia and Chernigov initially defeated the Mongols at Battle of Oleshia in May 1223. The Mongols then defeated a united Rus' army led by Mstislav the Bold and Mstislav Romanovich the Old on 31 May 1223 at the Battle of the Kalka River. In 1237, they besieged and took Ryazan, and Vladimir fell in early February 1238. "For our sins", wrote a chronicler, "unknown nations arrived. No one knew their origin or whence they came, or what religion they practiced. That is known only to God, and perhaps to wise men learned in books". Although this defeat left the principalities at the mercy of invaders, the Mongol or Tartar forces retreated and did not reappear for another 13 years, during which time the princes of Rus' went on quarreling and fighting as before, until they were startled by a new and much more formidable invading force. In The Secret History of the Mongols, the only reference to this early battle is:
The Secret History of the Mongols reports that Ögedei sent Batu, Büri, Möngke, and many other princes on a campaign to help Subutai, who was facing strong resistance from various peoples and cities under Genghis Khan's command. The list of Genghisides who participated in the campaign is present in works such as The Secret Legend, Yuan Shi, and Jami' al-tawarikh. In addition to Batu, other Chingizids who participated in the campaign included the sons of Jochi, Orda, Shiban, Tangkut and Berke; the son of Chagatai, Baidar, and the grandson of Chagatai, Büri; the sons of Ögedei, Güyük and Kadan; the sons of Tolui, Möngke and Ariq Böke; the son of Genghis Khan, Külkhan, and the grandson of Genghis Khan's brother, Argasun. In 1235 and early 1236, the assembled army prepared for an offensive, and then subjugated the Bashkir tribes, who were forced to allocate several detachments to the Mongol army. In the autumn of 1236, the Mongols concentrated on the Caspian steppes under the general leadership of Jochi's son Batu.
The first blow of the united Chingizid army struck Volga Bulgaria. Until the mid-1220s, Volga Bulgaria was in constant conflict with the Vladimir-Suzdal and Murom-Ryazan principalities. The parties undertook campaigns, there were constant skirmishes, the victories in which were mainly won by Rus' troops. However, with the appearance of the Mongols at their borders, the Bulgars began to seek peace, which was met with understanding and support from the Rus' princes. Over the course of several years, the Rus' and the Bulgars normalized relations, which allowed the Volga Bulgaria to devote all its forces to preparing to repel the alleged Mongol invasion. Ramparts were created in the forests that covered the main cities, the cities themselves were fortified, and the garrisons increased. However, all these measures were in vain – the Volga Bulgaria was defeated with lightning speed and completely conquered by the spring of 1237.
The next stage of the campaign was an attack on the Cumans and Alans. From the Lower Volga region, the Mongols moved on a broad front to the mouth of the Don, where another concentration of troops took place. The offensive continued until the autumn of 1237 and ended with the defeat of the Cumans and Alans. After that, the Mongols conquered the lands of the Burtas, Mokshas, and Erzyas. The grandiose Zolotarevskoe battle took place near a strategic crossing over the Sura. According to the historian Vadim Kargalov, the fighting in 1237 was undertaken to create a springboard for a campaign against Rus'. By the end of the year, a huge Mongol army and detachments allied with Batu stood on the borders of Russia. Preparations for a winter campaign against Northeastern Rus' by the Mongols began in the autumn of 1237. Their troops were grouped near Voronezh, and detachments that had previously fought with the Cumans and Alans were drawn there.
Invasion of Batu Khan
The vast Mongolian Great Khanate army of around 120,000 mounted archers, commanded by Batu Khan and Subutai, crossed the Volga River and invaded Volga Bulgaria in late 1236. It took them only a month to extinguish the resistance of the Volga Bulgars, the Cumans-Kipchaks and the Alans.Immediately prior to the invasion, Friar Julian from Hungary had travelled to the eastern border of the Rus' and learned of the Mongol army, which was waiting for the onset of winter so that they could cross the frozen rivers and swamps. In his letter to the Pope's legate in Hungary, Julian described meeting Mongol messengers who had been detained by Yuri II of Vladimir on their way to Hungary. Yuri II gave their letter to Julian.
In November 1237, Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of Yuri II and demanded his submission. According to the Laurentian Codex, the Mongols actually came seeking peace, but Yuri II treated them with disdain:
Regardless of what impression Yuri II may have given the Mongol delegations, of which several are mentioned, he did his best to avoid direct conflict. He sent them away with what were described as gifts, which were essentially tribute or bribes to keep them from invading.
The Mongols attacked from several directions. One section attacked Suzdal, one from the Volga, and another from the south towards Ryazan. According to Rashid al-Din Hamadani, the Siege of Ryazan was conducted by Batu, Orda, Güyük, Möngke, Kulkan, Kadan, and Büri. The city fell after three days. Alarmed by the news, Yuri II sent his sons to detain the invaders, but they were defeated and ran for their lives. Yuri II also fled Vladimir for Yaroslavl.
File:Sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan.jpg|200px|thumb|The sacking of Suzdal by Batu Khan in February 1238, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
Having burnt down Kolomna and Moscow, the horde laid siege to Vladimir on 4 February 1238. Three days later, the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal was taken and burnt to the ground. The royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince retreated northward. Crossing the Volga, Vladimir mustered a new army, which was encircled and totally annihilated by the Mongols in the Battle of the Sit River on 4 March.
Thereupon Batu Khan divided his army into smaller units, which ransacked fourteen cities of northeastern Rus': Rostov, Uglich, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kashin, Ksnyatin, Gorodets, Galich, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev-Polsky, Dmitrov, Volokolamsk, Tver, and Torzhok. Chinese siege engines were used by the Mongols under Tolui to raze the walls of many cities. The most difficult to take was the small town of Kozelsk, whose boy-prince Vasily, son of Titus Mstislavich, and inhabitants resisted the Mongols for seven weeks, killing 4,000. As the story goes, at the news of the Mongol approach, the whole town of Kitezh with all its inhabitants was submerged into a lake, where, as legend has it, it may be seen to this day. Major principalities and urban centres which escaped destruction or suffered little to no damage from the Mongol invasion included Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, and probably Rostov and Uglich. The Mongols planned to advance on Novgorod, but the principality was spared the fate of its brethren by the decision to preemptively surrender. In mid-1238, Batu Khan devastated the Crimea and pacified Mordovia. In the winter of 1239, he sacked Chernigov and Pereyaslavl.
While Kiev and its grand prince was still formally acknowledged as senior amongst the principalities of Rus', frequent internecine dynastic feuding among rival claimants had left the city weakened. Indeed, by the time Kiev fell to the Mongols, the head of the city's defenses owed allegiance to Prince Daniel of the Principality of Galicia–Volhynia. Prince Daniel had taken Kiev under his protection the previous year by arrangement with Prince Michael of Kiev, who fled after originally resisting the Mongols, then losing to them his main stronghold, Chernigov.
The Mongols approach on Kiev in November 1240 apparently made a grim impression upon its defenders. The chronicler wrote, "And nothing could be heard above the squeaking of his carts, the bawling of his innumerable camels, and the neighing of his herds of horses, and the Land of Rus’ was full of enemies." After many days of siege, the horde stormed Kiev in December 1240. The city was ransacked and pillaged immensely, although the building of St. Sophia Cathedral survived intact. Historian Serhii Plokhy relates the description of one Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, an ambassador of Pope Innocent IV who passed through Kiev six years later: "When we were journeying through that land, we came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground".
Batu Khan's forces went on to ravage much of Galicia–Volhynia, despite Daniel's fierce resistance. However, Batu Khan failed to capture Kremenets, and Kholm, which he was forced to bypass after unsuccessful sieges. The Tartars then resolved to "reach the ultimate sea", where they could proceed no further and invaded Hungary and Poland. Batu Khan captured Pest, and then on Christmas Day 1241, Esztergom.
File: SmirnovVS KnMihailChern.jpg|thumb|right|Prince Michael of Chernigov was passed between fires in accordance with ancient Turco-Mongol tradition. Batu Khan ordered him to prostrate himself before the tablets of Genghis Khan. The Mongols stabbed him to death for his refusal to do obeisance to Genghis Khan's shrine.
The principalities became part of the Jochid appanage ruled by Batu. Batu sited a semi-nomadic capital, called Sarai or Sarai Batu, on the lower Volga. The Jochid appanage came to be known as the Golden Horde.