History of Russia. Examine the Impact of Mongol Rule Upon Medieval Rus

University Degree Historical and Philosophical studies

Student registration number : 7631469

Course code and title: RUSS10251: History of Russia to 1917

Module Convener: Vera Tolz

Assignment title: Coursework Essay

Actual word count: 1433

Examine the Impact of Mongol Rule Upon Medieval Rus

The Mongol invasion of Kiev Rus' had various short and long-term impacts upon different aspects of Russian life. Whether examining the social system, commerce and trade, the language and even religion, effects on all aspects of life (even the scapegoat for blame in later years) can be attributed to the Mongols.

Batu Khan marched from Mongolia with a force 200,000 strong over a period of 20 years, with the sole intention of invading and conquering medieval Russia. One by one the Russian principalities, including Moscow, fell to the Khan and his army. The sheer destruction and huge scale of slaughter of countless Russian lives had, in itself, a profound impact on Russian culture, it's economy and society. The development of Russia experienced a grave impact as a result of the invasion. Eventually, the Mongols captured Kiev, which at the time was the symbolic centre of Kievan Russia, only the outlying principalities, such as Novgorod, survived the onslaught. Nevertheless these principalities would later become tributaries to the Khans and endure indirect oppression. As a result of the invasion Russia would be forever changed in terms of its religion, art, language, government and political geography.

After the initial destruction of Kiev, other well established Kievan cities suffered cultural and economic decay. Subjugation of the regions was no better exemplified than by the emasculation of the monarchy, Russian Princes could no longer make decisions without the Khan's permission, they were forced to be subordinate to the Khans and to collect and bring them tributes from across the entirety of Kiev Rus'. This was compounded by an artificial state of instability created by the Khans, where the Princes were kept in-line by a system of repeatedly selecting a new Grand Prince, forcing each Prince to be obedient to the Grand Prince of the time. As a tactic, it worked in the Khans favour, as the hierarchy between the principalities caused the Princes to fight amongst each other for power and land. Endless fighting and arguments created an unstable relationship between the Princes, allowing the Khans to rule more easily and without a threat of rebellion or an uprising from the principalities. This led on to one of the Khans main negative impacts on medieval Russia; the cutting of trade ties with Byzantium, amongst other cities. Without the ability to trade with other cities and lands, Russia was unable to advance forward. Many argue that this undoubtedly stagnated Russia’s development for over one hundred years.

The humiliation suffered by the Princes caused division in their political authority. This allowed the Church to rise as an embodiment of religious and national identity. (Riasanovsky, p. 57). Moscow saw a huge benefit from this increase in the Churches power as following the destruction of Kiev, the church eventually moved to Moscow in 1322 (Hosking, p. 72), helping to advance the importance of Moscow significantly.

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The Orthodox Church also saw many changes under Mongol rule. With the initial Mongol invasion, many churches were looted, destroyed and countless clergy were slaughtered. The Mongol Khan and army claimed they had been sent by God and the invasion was His will. Many Russians believed the Mongol claims and thought that they had indeed been sent by God, to punish them for their sins. Although ultimately, claims of divine intervention by the Mongols had the reverse effect in the form of a strong, backlash as countless Russian people turned to the Orthodox Church, seeking guidance and support and promoting unity.

Undoubtedly Moscow saw the most profound impact from Mongol rule. After it was founded, Moscow remained an insignificant town for over a century. Although Moscow had huge opportunities for trade and commerce with other lands due to its convenient geographic location on the Moscow river, which in turn connects to the Oka and Volga River, the potential of its situation was neither realised nor exploited. The rise of Moscow was a direct result of the Mongol onslaught. Hordes of refugees began to arrive from the devastated southern part of Russia, particularly Kiev, after the destruction of the various principalities. (Riasanovsky, p. 109). Moreover, the actions of the Muscovite Princes, which pleased the Khans, helped Moscow to rise as the centre of power. One of the more notable actions were that of Prince Ivan I of Moscow. He won the favour of the Khan when he subdued the rebellion in Tver. To show his appreciation, the Khan granted Ivan I more power, and with this, Moscow was furthered in its prominence and power. After being put in charge of tax collecting by the Khan, Moscow and the Prince grew wealthier as they kept some of the tax for the benefit of the state. As Moscow grew wealthier, its authority of several principalities also increased through being the main tax collector. These decisions by the Khans of the Mongol rule had huge positive and long term effects, significantly helping Moscow in its rise to power and to what we know Moscow to be today. However, following the Kulikovo Battle, whereupon Prince Dimitrii defeated one of the Mongol generals, Moscow was invaded by Tohktamysh, and once again had to pay tribute to the Mongols. This was a degenerate part of the Mongol rule upon Russia.

Possibly one of the longest, long term effects of the invasion were the impacts upon the Russian language itself. While the effects on the language may seem trivial, such linguistic impacts help one understand the extent of the effect the Mongol empire had on Russia in terms of administration, trade and even the military. Nevertheless, the linguistic impacts were significant, to this day, there are thousands of words and phrases that were borrowed from the Mongol languages that were united under the Mongol empire. (Dmytryshyn, p. 123).

The Russian government also was initially, adversely affected by the invasion as the Mongols aimed to eliminate the power of the Veche. The town senate was an assembly for civic affairs to discuss and resolve problems. However, this institution suffered severe suppression under the Mongol Khans. The Mongol elimination of the Veche can be seen as an attempt to achieve complete control over Russia, rather than each principality having a form of independence. By eliminating the Veche, then Khans successfully stopped a centralization of power in medieval Russia. The Khans accomplished complete control over most of Russia, thus turning it into a totalitarian state, changing every aspect of Russian life from then on. Some Veches, notably in Novgorod remained despite the Khans will, but were soon subjugated by Moscow in the late fifteenth century.

A positive, long term impact on Russia and the government was the Mongol idea of census tabulation. This was of great importance to the Khans as they could closely monitor the collection of taxes. This practise was carried on in Moscow even after they had stopped acknowledging the Golden Horde in the fifteenth century. Such census tabulation was not known in Europe until at least a century later. The impact of the Mongol rule was obviously very effective and helped to create a strong central government in Russia. Various institutions like this, brought to Russia by the Mongols, were transformed to meet Russian needs over time and lasted for hundreds of years even after the Mongol rule had ended. These greatly changed the development and expansion of Russia and determined the course of development Russia would take.

When we consider the evidence, the Mongol invasion and rule had numerous impacts on medieval Russia, ranging from political, social and religious aspects of Russian life and society. These impacts were both positive and negative, short term and long term. Impacts such as the growth of the Orthodox Church were evidently positive on the life of Russian people, whilst other aspects, such as the elimination of the Veche system and centralization of power had adverse effects on the wide spread of government for the various principalities. The long term impacts of the Mongol rule are still evident today, through the influences on the Russian language and the government. Without the rule and invasion, many aspects of Russia, such as religion and politics would greatly differ from what they are now. Through the Mongol influences, it can be seen that maybe Russia became a more Asian nation as the Mongols employed many ideas for economy and government from what they had seen in China. Nevertheless, the link between Russia and Europe was upheld due to the establishment of the Christian faith in Russia. It was the Mongol invasion, perhaps more than any other historical event, that shaped Russia and the capital Moscow into what we see today.

Bibliography...

Hosseini, Dustin, 'The Effects of the Mongol Empire on Russia', Vestnik the Journal of Russian and Asian Studies, (12.12.2005).

Riasanovsky, Nicholas V, 'A History of Russia', Sixth ed. New York: Oxford University Press, (2000).

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