Jump to content

Great Troubles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 14th–century Golden Horde war of succession. For the 1598–1613 Tsardom of Russia successon crisis, seeTime of Troubles.For the 20th–century Northern Ireland conflict, seeThe Troubles.

Great Troubles
Golden Horde Dynastic War

A statue ofMamaias part of theMillennium of Russiamonument (erected in 1862)
Date1359–1381 (1382)
Location
Golden Horde
Result

Defeat ofMamaibyTokhtamysh

Belligerents
1360s
Khans atSarai
Muscovy(1362–3)[1]
Suzdal(1363–?)[1]		 1360s
MamaiinCrimea
Muscovy(1363[1]–70;[citation needed]1370–74[citation needed])

c.1361–79
Khans atSighnaq

c.1362–72[2]
Lithuania[3]
Tver[2]
Ryazan[2]
1361–4
Murād,Gülistan		 1361–68/78
Tagai,Mukhsha		 1361–76
Bolgarulus
1370s–82
Tokhtamysh[4]
Timur[4]
Suzdal(1382)[a]		 1370s–81
MamaiinCrimea
Tver[3][b]
Ryazan[2]
Lithuania(1380)[c]		 c.1375–1380[5]
Donskoy's coalition[5]
Muscovy
Suzdal
(c.1376–80)[a]
Commanders and leaders
Khans at Sarai:
59–60Qulpa
60Nowruz Beg
60–1Khiḍr Khan
61Timur Khwaja
61Ordu Malik
61–2Kildi Beg
62Murad
62–4Khayr Pulad
64–7Aziz Shaykh
67–9ʿAbdallāh
70–1Tūlūn
71–3Mamat-Sultan
73–5Urus Khan
75–7Qāghān Beg
77–80Arab Shah
1380–1395:Tokhtamysh		 Mamai(d. 1381)
Mamai's puppet-khans:
ʿAbdallāh
Tūlūn
Mamat-Sultan
Tulak
Mamai's allies:
Mikhail II of Tver
Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow(1363[1]–early 1370s[citation needed])

Urus Khan
(d. 1377)
Toqtaqiya
Temur-Malik

Algirdas

Bolgar ulus:
61–68Bulat-Timur[ru]
–76 Hassan

Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow

TheGreat Troubles[10][11][d](Church Slavonic:Великая замятня,romanized:Velikaya zamyatnya,as found inRus' chronicles[3][e]), also known as theGolden Horde Dynastic War,[14]was awar of successionin theGolden Hordefrom 1359 to 1381.[14]

This era, which followed shortly after theBlack Deathhad ravaged the cities of the Golden Horde, was characterised by two decades of near anarchy.[15]A long series of short-reigning khans deposed and killed each other, only to suffer the same fate next.Mamaiemerged as the most powerful Mongol warlord, frequently employingRus' principalitiessuch asTverandRyazanas his allies.[3]Because he was not aChingisid(descendant ofGenghis Khan), Mamai had no legitimate claim to the throne, and instead used Chingisid puppet-khans to exercise political control.[16]

The Rus' principalities and neighbouring states frequently changed their allegiancies at this time, joining forces with or against various Mongol factions and with or against each other, in tactical efforts to exploit rapidly shifting situations.[8]TheGrand Duchy of Lithuaniaas well as Horde vassals such as Tver andMuscovywere opportunistic in profiting from the internecine warfare that weakened Mongol-Tatar control in the region.[17]Algirdasdefeated Mamai's forces at theBattle of Blue Watersand thereby conquered thePrincipality of Kiev,whileDmitry Donskoysuccessfully united most Rus' princes against Mamai at the 1380Battle of Kulikovo,solidifying Muscovite pre-eminence amongst them.[18]However,Tokhtamysh's lightning rise to power in the late 1370s, hisdefinitive victory over Mamai (1381)andsubsequent sack of Moscow (1382)confirmed the Rus' principalities'vassalageto the Golden Horde.[19]

Background

[edit]

The Golden Horde had reached the height of its power and prosperity underÖzbeg Khan(r. 1313–1341), when overland trade from theBlack SeatoYuan dynasty Chinaflourished.[citation needed]While Özbeg adoptedIslam,theOrthodox Church(exempt from taxes throughyarliks or patents[20]) continued supporting his rule, and the Turco-Mongolian population of his realm gradually assimilated and became known as "Tatars".[citation needed]

Taxes regularly collected by thedarughachiorbasqaq(baskak)from the subordinate Rus' principalities provided the Horde's coffers with plenty revenue.[citation needed]The responsibility of tax collection was eventually transferred from thebasqaqto the Rus' princes,[citation needed]although it is unclear when this happened, or why, though the Golden Horde officials authorised with collecting the taxes were widely hated in Rus' sources.[21]The last references to thebasqaqsystem are found from the 1350s to 1382 in thePrincipality of Ryazan(possibly the last region to switch to princely tax collection), while emirMamaiis said to have intended to restore thebasqaqsystem around 1380, indicating that it had fallen into disuse by then.[21]

The khans obtained the prerogative of granting the title ofGrand Prince of Vladimirto any Rus' prince they favoured through ayarlik(patent).[22]They employed this highly symbolic title to prop up a weaker Rus' principality (usuallyMuscovy) against a stronger one (usuallyTver) to keep the latter in check as adivide and rulepolicy.[23]ThePrincipality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdalalso played this power game according to the Mongol rules in 1353 and 1371.[22]In the mid-14th century,Algirdas(Olgerd) of Lithuania would try to bring Tver andRyazanunder his control during theLithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–1372),and also played by the Mongol rules by sending a delegation to Golden Horde (as the neutral power-broker) in order to negotiate peace.[3]But the Mongols used Moscow to counterbalance the rise of Lithuanian power; they arrested the Lithuanian envoys and handed them over to the Muscovites, so that Algirdas had to ransom his emissaries from his enemies.[3]

Two developments in the mid-14th century were catastrophic for the Horde's society and economy: several Mongol khanates fell between 1330 and 1370, and theBlack Deathreached the capital city ofSaraiin the 1340s, spreading to all urban centres of Golden Horde and its vassals, with many in the ranks of the khan's army and up to 25% of the Rus' population dying to thepandemic.[citation needed]The end of Özbeg Khan's reign in 1341 also sparked a series of dynastic regicides, first intermittently, then from 1359 with alarming frequency.[citation needed]Özbeg's sonTini Begwas murdered by his brotherJani Beg(1342), who in turn was possibly killed by his sonBerdi Beg(1357).[citation needed]The latter's assassination by his brotherQulpain 1359[citation needed]is usually considered the start of the Great Troubles.[24]When Qulpa was killed (1360) by yet another brother,Nawruz Beg,who himself died under suspicious circumstances after a year on the throne, the lineage ofBatu Khan(the 1242 founder of the Golden Horde) went extinct.[citation needed]From 1360 to 1380, competing branches of theJochidclan fought bitterly over the fate of the dynasty, while no fewer than 24 khans (possibly even more) were enthroned.[citation needed]The capital city of Sarai changed hands multiple times, in one year being successively conquered by 6 different pretenders.[citation needed]

1359–1360

[edit]

KhanBerdi Beg(Berdibek) was killed in 1359[24]in a coup by his brotherQulpa.[citation needed]Qulpa's two sons were Christians and bore the Slavic names Michael and Ivan, which outraged the Muslim populace of the Golden Horde.[citation needed]In 1360, Qulpa's brotherNawruz Beg(Navruz) revolted against the khan and killed him and his sons.[citation needed]

When Rus' princes heard of Berdi Beg's death, they had begun travelling to Sarai to receive patents from his successor, but by the time they arrived, Nawruz had already assumed the throne.[24]Nawruz did not award the title ofGrand Prince of VladimirtoMuscovite princeDmitry Ivanovich(later known as "Donskoy" ), but toDmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal,theprince of Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdal,nephew of Alexander of Suzdal who previously held it (beforeIvan I "Kalita" of Moscow).[24]Dmitry Konstantinovich was part of a group of Rus' princes who were concerned about the rise of the Daniilovichi princely dynasty of Muscovy; the princes of Rostov, Beloozero, and Galich–Dmitrov supported Konstantinovich's claim to grand prince in return for receiving extra power for themselves from Nawruz.[25]Nawruz was overthrown in 1361, however.[1]

By 1360,Urus Khanhad set up court inSighnaq(near modernShieli,Kazakhstan). He was named Urus, which means "Russian" in theTurkish language,presumably because "Urus-Khan's mother was a Russian princess... he was prepared to press his claims on Russia on that ground."[26]

1360s

[edit]
Map of the Golden Horde during the Great Troubles andTokhtamysh–Timur war.Sarai,Sighnaq,Crimea,BolgharandMukhshabecame strongholds of various factions during the war, while vassal Rus' principalities frequently changed sides.

In 1361, a descendant ofShiban(5th son ofJochi), was invited by some grandees to seize the throne. Khidr rebelled against Nawruz, whose own lieutenant betrayed him and handed him over to be executed. Khidr was slain by his own son, Timur Khwaja, in the same year. Timur Khwaja reigned for only five weeks before descendants of Öz Beg Khan seized power.[27]

In 1362, the Golden Horde was divided between Keldi Beg in Sarai, Bulat Temir inVolga Bulgaria,and Abdullah inCrimea.Meanwhile, theGrand Duchy of Lithuaniaattacked the western tributaries of the Golden Horde and conqueredKyivandPodoliaafter theBattle of Blue Watersin 1363.[28]A powerful Mongol general by the name ofMamaibacked Abdullah but failed to take Sarai, which saw the reign of two more khans, Murad and Aziz. Abdullah died in 1370 and Muhammad Bolaq was enthroned as puppet khan by Mamai.[27]

1370s

[edit]

Mamai also had to deal with a rebellion inNizhny Novgorod.Muscovitetroops impinged on the Bulgar territory of Arab-Shah, the son of Bulat Temir, who caught them off guard and defeated them on the banks of thePyana River(1377). However Arab-Shah was unable to take advantage of the situation because of the advance of another Mongol general from the east.[29]Mamai sent an army against the Muscovite alliance in 1378, butDmitri Donskoydefeated Mamai's forces led by general Begich at theBattle of the Vozha River.[3]

In 1372, Urus marched west and occupied Sarai. His nephew and lieutenantTokhtamyshdeserted him and went toTimurfor assistance. Tokhtamysh attacked Urus, killing his son Kutlug-Buka, but lost the battle and fled toSamarkand.Soon after, another generalEdigudeserted Urus and went over to Timur. Timur personally attacked Urus in 1376 but the campaign ended indecisively. Urus died the next year and was succeeded by his son, Timur-Melik, who immediately lost Sighnaq to Tokhtamysh. In 1378, Tokhtamysh conquered Sarai.[30]

1380–1381

[edit]
TheBattle of Kulikovo.A large-scale hand-colouredlubokby I.G. Blinov (ink, tempera, gold), 1890s.

By the 1380s, theShaybanidsandQashanattempted to break free of the Khan's power.[citation needed]

Mamai hiredGenoese,Circassian,andAlanmercenaries for another attack on Moscow in 1380. In the ensuing battle, Mongol forces once again lost at theBattle of Kulikovo.[29]

The Great Troubles came to an end when Tokhtamysh personally defeated Mamai theBattle of the Kalka River (1381)to become the undisputed khan of the Golden Horde.[31]

Aftermath: 1382 siege of Moscow

[edit]
Main article:Siege of Moscow (1382)
Siege of Moscow (1382)as painted by Vasily Sergeievich Smirnov (19th century)

The siege of Moscow in 1382 was motivated by khan Tokhtamysh's desire to punish Muscovy for its audacity to challenge the authority of theGolden Hordeat theBattle of Kulikovo(1380).[31]Even though it was his rival warlordMamaiwho was defeated at Kulikovo, and Tokhtamysh personally defeated Mamai at the Kalka River (1381) to become the undisputed khan, he wanted to make Moscow an example of what happened if anyone dared defy Mongol supremacy over the Rus' principalities.[31]Tokhtamysh allied himself (in part through coercion) with the Rus' princes of Tver, Riazan, and Nizhniy Novgorod against Muscovy, and launched a surprise attack on the city in 1382.[32]PrinceDmitry Donskoy,who had led his largely Muscovite army to apyrrhic victoryat Kulikovo two years earlier,[17]abandoned his capital and fled north, leaving the dismayed citizens of Moscow to ask a Lithuanian prince named Ostei (or Ostej), a grandson ofAlgirdas,to lead the defence.[f][34]The princes of Nizhniy Novgorod tricked the population into surrendering the city, after which Tokhtamysh' forces immediately sacked Moscow as punishment for resisting Mongol authority.[32]

Although Kulikovo had marked Muscovy's new position as the pre-eminent state amongst the Rus' principalities,[8]the subsequent sack of Moscow confirmed that Donskoy and the other princes remained firmly under suzerainty of the Tatar–Mongol Golden Horde, now ruled by Tokhtamysh.[32]According to Halperin (1987), 'Moscow benefited more from the deteriorating relations between Tokhtamysh [and]Tamerlane (Timur)than it had from the victory of Kulikovo.'[8]TheTokhtamysh–Timur war(1386–1395) and the 1399Battle of the Vorskla RiverestablishedTimurid controlover the Golden Horde and its Rus' vassals, but because Muscovy mostly escaped the destruction of war, these years allowed it to recover and grow its strength.[32]

Halperin (2016) described the Juchidulus(Golden Horde) as having evolved from "the thirteenth to early fourteenth century major European and Asian power" to a "late fourteenth-century minor regional East European [power]" during the decades-long war.[35]Tokhtamysh was not as bloodthirsty asGenghis Khan,and did not have the means to completely level Moscow (as Genghis would have done), just likeÖzbeg Khanhad not wipedTverfrom the face of the earth after crushing theTver Uprising of 1327.[35]

List of events

[edit]
2012 commemorative stamp for theBattle of Blue Watersissued inLithuania
  • Autumn 1362 or 1363:Battle of Blue Waters– battle between Lithuania andAbdallāh's Golden Horde forces. Lithuania is victorious and incorporates thePrincipality of Kiev.
  • late 1362:Khayr Puladconquers Sarai and drives outMurādorAbdallāh
  • winter 1362–3: Muscovite troops ofDmitry Donskoydrive out Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdalian troops ofDmitry Konstantinovichfrom thecity of Vladimir–on-Klyazmaon the authority of a patent from a khan at Sarai.[1]
  • early 1363:Mamaiissues a patent awarding the title of grand prince of Vladimir toDmitry Donskoyof Muscovy.[1]Donskoy had thus received two patents (yarliks) for the throne of Vladimir from rival khans.[42]The khan at Sarai changes allegiance and issues a patent awarding the title of grand prince of Vladimir toDmitry Konstantinovichof Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdal.[1]
  • 1363:Dmitry Konstantinovichof Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdal fails to retake city of Vladimir, and is driven back to Suzdal by Mamai andDmitry Donskoyof Muscovy.[1]
  • 1363/4: Donskoy evicts sitting princes from Starodub, Galich and Rostov, and replaces them with vassals by invoking his title of grand prince of Vladimir with Mamai's backing.[1]
  • 1363:MamaiattacksMurādat Gülistan
  • 1363/4:Khayr Puladtries to take control of Crimea, but is driven out by Mamai
  • 1364:Dmitry Konstantinovichof Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdal andDmitry Donskoyof Muscovy conclude a peace agreement and recognise the latter as grand prince of Vladimir. Later in 1364, Konstantinovich refuses a patent from yet another khan for the title of Vladimir.[1]
  • Autumn 1364:Aziz Shaykhseizes Sarai (probably fromKhayr Pulad) and proclaims himself khan
Illustration from the 16th-centuryFacial Chronicleabout theBattle near the Shishevsky Forest[ru]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^abNizhny Novgorod-Suzdaljoined Muscovy during the1376 campaign against Bolghar,and fought under Donskoy at Kulikovo in 1380, but in 1382 the Suzdalians played a crucial role in capturing Moscow by deception, allowing Tokhtamysh to sack the Muscovite capital.[7]
  2. ^The 1375 Muscovy-led expedition forced Tver to sign a treaty recognising Moscow's superiority and to pledge military support in the case of a conflict; however, no Tverian troops were sent to reinforce Donskoy's anti-Mamai coalition at Kulikovo in 1380.[5]
  3. ^In 1380, Lithuania was allied with Mamai, but the Lithuanians arrived too late to aid him; they retreated at the news of Mamai's defeat at Kulikovo.[6]
  4. ^"Of course Chingissids killed each other all the time, especially in the recent past, during the" Troubles "in the Juchid ulus in the 1360s–1370s."[12]
  5. ^One example is theNovgorod First Chronicleentry for the year 6868 (1360), which according to the 1914 Oxford English translation says: 'The same year there was a great tumult in the Horde: manyTsarswith their wives and children were killed, and the men of the ranks fought against each other.'[13]The phraseVelikaya zamyatnyaor "Great Troubles" features more prominently in theNikon Chronicle,theVologda-Perm Chronicle,theLviv Chronicle,theRogozh Chronicle,and theNovgorod Fourth Chronicle(Dubrovsky manuscript).[13]
  6. ^"With more common sense than valour, Dmitrii Donskoi withdrew northward, leaving the people of his capital to their fate. In their consternation, they turned to a Lithuanian prince, Ostei, to lead the defence of the city."[33]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdefghijklMartin 2004,p. 208.
  2. ^abcdHalperin 1987,p. 72–3.
  3. ^abcdefghijHalperin 1987,p. 73.
  4. ^abcdefgSeleznëv 2009,p. 204.
  5. ^abcHalperin 1987,p. 73–5.
  6. ^Halperin 2016,p. 10.
  7. ^Halperin 1987,p. 57, 73–75.
  8. ^abcdHalperin 1987,p. 107.
  9. ^abcHalperin 1987,p. 73–75.
  10. ^Halperin 1987,p. 73, 100.
  11. ^Martin 2004,p. xxi, 195, 207, 209, 215.
  12. ^Halperin 2016,p. 8.
  13. ^abSorogin 2022,p. 36.
  14. ^abKohn 2013,p. 587.
  15. ^Halperin 1987,p. 45.
  16. ^Halperin 1987,p. 119.
  17. ^abHalperin 1987,p. 74.
  18. ^Halperin 1987,p. 75, 107.
  19. ^Halperin 1987,p. 73–75, 107.
  20. ^Halperin 1987,p. 96.
  21. ^abHalperin 1987,p. 54.
  22. ^abHalperin 1987,p. 69.
  23. ^Halperin 1987,p. 69, 107.
  24. ^abcdMartin 2004,p. 207.
  25. ^Martin 2004,p. 207–208.
  26. ^abVernadsky 1953,p. 247.
  27. ^abcVernadsky 1953,p. 246.
  28. ^Atwood 2004,p. 480.
  29. ^abVernadsky 1953,p. 258.
  30. ^abVernadsky 1953,p. 250.
  31. ^abcHalperin 1987,p. 74–75.
  32. ^abcdHalperin 1987,p. 75.
  33. ^Crummey 2014,p. 57.
  34. ^Shaikhutdinov 2021,p. 106.
  35. ^abHalperin 1987,p. 9.
  36. ^Nasonov 1940,p. 120.
  37. ^Grekov & Jakubovskij 1950,p. 276.
  38. ^Safargaliev 1960,p. 117–118.
  39. ^Grigor'ev 1983,p. 29–31.
  40. ^Sidorenko 2000,p. 284–285.
  41. ^Počekaev 2010a,p. 125–126.
  42. ^Halperin 1987,p. 72.
  43. ^abcPočekaev 2010b,p. 61–63.
  44. ^abHoworth 1880,p. 222.
  45. ^Howorth 1880,p. 223.
  46. ^Halperin 1987,p. 57.
  47. ^Pokhlebkin 1992,p. 66.
  48. ^abcdPočekaev 2010a,p. 149–151.
  49. ^abcPočekaev 2010b,p. 83–85.
  50. ^Howorth 1880,p. 212.
  51. ^Grigor'ev 1983,p. 45–46, 54.
  52. ^Sagdeeva 2005,p. 42.
  53. ^abcdPočekaev 2010a,p. 152.
  54. ^abcdPočekaev 2010b,p. 65.
  55. ^Počekaev 2010a,p. 153.
  56. ^Howorth 1880,p. 223–5.

Bibliography

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Troubles&oldid=1233724693"