On a high picturesque bank, near the confluence of the Ugra and Oka rivers, over the wide expanses of the river at the beginning of the 16th century, in memory of the great Standing on the Ugra, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Vorotynsky Monastery was founded. The choice of location for the monastery was probably influenced by the events of the “Great Stand on the Ugra”. People's memory has preserved the memory of the great feat of the Russian people in the fight against foreign yoke.

It was that amazing time when the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, who united the Russian lands into a single powerful state that frightened Europe with its power, became the sovereign of All Rus'.

N.M. Karamzin wrote about the significance of the Great Stand on the Ugra in his work “History of the Russian State”: “This is great era, the solemn restoration of our state independence, connected with the final fall of the Great or Golden Horde."

After the Battle of Kulikovo, for a hundred years, the Tatars more than once ravaged the Russian land, burned cities, and carried away the Russian people. Rus' continued to pay a shameful tribute to the Horde. But then Ivan III, a wise and cautious politician, a collector of Russian lands, ascended to the Grand Ducal Moscow table. He was the first of the Russian Grand Dukes who never came to the Khan. Moreover, he was the first to assume a great reign without the direct sanction of the khan’s power. Realizing the inevitability of a clash with the Horde, Prince Ivan, with his characteristic foresight, negotiated with the Crimean Khan Mengi-Girey, agreeing, in the event of an attack by the Horde, on support. Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde. Khan Akhmat had to punish the rebellious tributary. The Lithuanian King Casimir also persuaded him to do this, citing the strife between the Grand Duke and his brothers.

In the summer of 1480 “all Horde power"moved to Rus'. Having learned about the impending campaign, Ivan III sent troops under the command of his son Ivan “Younger” to the well-fortified Serpukhov. The Grand Duke himself “hundred on Kolomna”, taking the crossings across the Oka on the road from the Horde to Rus'. But Akhmat did not dare to go into open battle without his ally King Casimir of Lithuania. He walked around the Oka through Lithuanian territory and went to the Ugra, “expecting Casimir’s help.” Having learned about this, the Grand Duke sent the Russian army to Ugra. The troops stretched along the Oka and Ugra for 60 versts: “and they came and the stash on the Ugra, and the fords and transports of the river.” At the beginning of October, the Tatars approached the border with the Moscow state, which ran along the Ugra River.

« And the prince himself rode from Kolomna to Moscow to the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Pure Lady Theotokos and to all the miracle workers, asking for help and intercession for Orthodox Christianity and for advice and counsel to his father and Metropolitan Gerontius, and to his mother Grand Duchess Martha, and to his uncle, Prince Mikhail Andreevich, and to his spiritual father, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, and to all his boys: all of them were then under siege in Moscow. And praying to him with great prayer that he would stand firmly for Orthodox Christianity against infertility.”

Having received a blessing for the battle, the Grand Duke left the main forces on the Ugra, and he himself went with a small army to Kremenets. His situation was complicated by the fact that his brothers, offended by him for what they considered to be an unfair division of property, “set aside” from Moscow and asked for protection from the Lithuanian king. Grand Duke Ivan, in view of the danger from the Tatars, tried to make amends to his brothers. He asked his mother, nun Martha, to reconcile his brothers with him, promising to fulfill all their conditions. The brothers agreed to join their forces with the Russian army. The “Ukraine” of the Lithuanian lands was attacked by the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, “serving the Grand Duke.”

In early October, fierce fighting began at the crossings across the Ugra.

« And ours killed many with arrows and arquebuses; and their arrows struck our enemies and wounded no one andrepulsing them from the shore." In these battles, firearms were successfully used on the Russian side. The battles lasted four days, but the Tatars were never able to cross the Ugra. The Tatar Murzas tried to “overwhelm the Ugra” in the Opakov region, “not disrespecting the power of the Grand Duke.” But even here they encountered firm resistance from the Russian troops.

The wisdom of Ivan III, as a statesman responsible for the fate of the people entrusted to him by God, was manifested in the fact that he did not seek a general battle with the Tatars, did not want to expose people to danger, but wanted to achieve victory over the Horde little blood. He always preferred patience and caution. The Grand Duke began negotiations with the Horde. According to many historians, this was done only to delay time. The negotiations did not produce any visible results, but they allowed us to gain time and wait for reconciliation with the rebellious brothers.

The news of the negotiations worried the confessor of the Grand Duke, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov. He sent a fiery message to his spiritual son, trying to strengthen in him the desire to stand firmly for Orthodox Christianity “against godless lack of faith.” He perceived this war as sacred, as a battle for the faith of Christ against wickedness. And truly blessed is the man who “lays down his life for his friends.” Therefore, Archbishop Vassian writes: “If you, O mighty and brave king, and the Christ-loving army for you, will suffer to the point of blood and death for the Orthodox faith of Christ, as a true child of the Church, having been born in her through the spiritual and incorruptible bath, holy baptism, as the martyrs, with their blood, will be blessed and blessed in eternal pleasure, having received this baptism, by it they will not be able to sin, but will receive from the Almighty God an incorruptible crown and joy inexpressible, which no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and a man’s heart is in no way...”

Assuring the Grand Duke of fervent prayer for the victory of Russian weapons, Archbishop Vassian testified: “To the Holy Metropolitan, together with us, the pilgrims of your nobility, with all the God-loving cathedrals, who constantly perform prayers, in all churches always offer prayers and holy services throughout your entire fatherland for your those who achieve victory, and all Christians who constantly pray to God to grant you victory over your opposing enemies, which we hope to receive from the all-merciful God.” Elder Vassian urged us to place all our hope in the Lord, who “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” who “kills and gives life, and will give strength to our princes, and lift up the horn of His Christ,” and instructed to seek God’s mercy through repentance: “for our sake.” sins and non-correction to God, and more than radiance, if you do not trust in God, may God allow the accursed Batu to be upon you before your ancestry and throughout our entire land... Now the same Lord, if we repent with all our souls and cease from sin, the Lord will raise up for us you, sovereign ours...This is what the Lord says: “I raised you up as a king of righteousness, called you with righteousness and received you by the hand on your right hand, and strengthened you so that the nations would listen to you. And I will destroy the fortress of the king, I will open the doors and cities, so that they will not be closed. I will go before you and level the mountains, and break the doors of copper, and break the iron bars.” “The same message will be for the strengthening and benefit of many, like the most pious autocrat, as well as his entire army.”

Karamzin wrote: “No one more zealously than the Clergy interceded then for the freedom of the Fatherland and for the need to assert it with the sword.” The fervent prayer of the clergy and all Russian people ascended to the Lord, the power of God inspired the message of Archbishop Vassian to ignite the spirit folk love to their Orthodox Fatherland, so that in a single impulse the Russian people would rush to liberation from heterodox slavery: “And so, by God’s providence, without any doubt, the entire Russian army unanimously became brave and fought with the filthy for many days, all summer and autumn stood.”

And the Lord heeded the tearful petitions of the entire Russian people. The prophetic words of the message of Archbishop Vassian came true. The chroniclers wrote: “Let the frivolous not boast of the fear of their weapons, no, not weapons, not human wisdom, but the Lord Himself has now saved Russia.” That year the frosts began unusually early. Even before their offensive, Akhmat boasted: “The rivers will become, and then there will be many roads to Rus'.” When the Ugra began to “stand up,” the Grand Duke prudently decided to retreat to Borovsk with all his forces, “saying, we’ll fight them on those fields.” And so, on the eve of Michaelmas (when the memory of the Holy Archangel Michael, the patron of the Christ-loving army is celebrated), “there was a glorious miracle of the Most Holy Theotokos. When our Tatars retreated from the shore, then the Tatars were overcome with fear and fled, imagining that Rus' was protecting them and wanted to fight with them, and our Tatars, imagining that the Tatars crossed the river after them and married them... and then, amazingly, the most pure miracle happened: I fled alone from the others and no one is married. The king fled to the Horde, and the Nagai king Ivak came against him and took the Horde and killed him...”

“Then the Great Prince came from Borovsk to Moscow, and with his son Grand Duke Ivan, and with his brethren, and with all his might, and praised God and the Most Pure Mother of God, and the great miracle workers and all the saints.”

“All the people rejoiced and rejoiced with great joy and praised God and the Most Pure Mother of God, and the great Russian miracle workers about the glorious salvation, having been delivered from the filthy Tatars.”

“In the city of God-saving Moscow, from that time on, we established the holiday of celebrating the Most Pure Mother of God and walking from the crosses on June 23”

The famous historian Yu. G. Alekseev, who deeply studied the events of the Great Stand on the Ugra, wrote: “The fight on the Oka and Ugra in the summer-autumn of 1480 ended in complete victory. The Russian land was saved from the Horde invasion, enormous in scope and intentions. However, in November 1480, even the most insightful and far-sighted people were hardly aware of the real significance of the events that had taken place. The victory on the Ugra in the fall of 1480 is one of those truly great historical phenomena, the real significance of which increases over time, and awareness of them true meaning and scale comes only later... In general, the actions of the Russian command in 1480 seem exemplary as an example of a strategic defensive operation in difficult military-political conditions, carried out on the very high level and with the most positive results. The successful completion of this operation in November 1480 meant a radical change in the entire military-political situation and the successful resolution of the most serious and dangerous crisis that the young Russian state faced... The bloodless victory on the Ugra was the largest event of the era, and Sunday November 12, 1480 . - the first day of a completely independent Russian state - one of important dates in the history of our Fatherland."

Place Bottom line

Russian strategic victory
The end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke

Parties Commanders Strengths of the parties Losses

Start of hostilities

Khan Akhmat, busy fighting the Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active actions. He managed to negotiate with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV on military assistance. Western borders The Muscovite state (Pskov lands) was attacked by the Livonian Order at the beginning of 1480. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernd von der Borch:

“... gathered such a force of the people against the Russians, which no master had ever gathered, either before or after him... This master was involved in a war with the Russians, took up arms against them and gathered 100 thousand troops from foreign and native warriors and peasants; with these people he attacked Russia and burned the outskirts of Pskov, without doing anything else.”

In January 1480, his brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi rebelled against Ivan III, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke. Taking advantage of the current situation, Akhmat organized reconnaissance of the right bank of the Oka River in June 1480, and in the fall he set out with the main forces.

“That same summer, the ill-named Tsar Akhmat... went against Orthodox Christianity, against Rus', against the holy churches and against the Grand Duke, boasting of destroying the holy churches and captivating all Orthodoxy and the Grand Duke himself, as under Batu Beshe.”

The boyar elite of the Moscow state split into two groups: one (“rich and potbellied money lovers”), led by the okolnichy Ivan Oshchera and Grigory Mamon, advised Ivan III flee; the other defended the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps the behavior of Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Ivan III started gather troops to the banks of the Oka River. In particular, he sent his brother Vologda Prince Andrei Menshoy to his patrimony - Tarusa, and his son Ivan the Young to Serpukhov. Myself Grand Duke arrived on June 23 at Kolomna, where he stopped awaiting further developments. On the same day, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession the salvation of Rus' from the troops of Tamerlane was associated in 1395.

Akhmat's troops moved unhindered through Lithuanian territory and, accompanied by Lithuanian guides, through Mtsensk, Odoev and Lyubutsk to Vorotynsk. Here the khan expected help from Casimir IV, but he never received it. The Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian troops by attacking Podolia. Knowing that Russian regiments were waiting for him on the Oka, Akhmat decided, passing through Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory across the Ugra River. Ivan III, having received information about such intentions, sent his son Ivan and brother Andrei Menshoy to Kaluga and to the banks of the Ugra.

Confrontation on the Ugra

For those who watched from the sidelines how both armies almost simultaneously (within two days) turned back without bringing the matter to battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received a simplified explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, afraid to accept battle. Contemporaries attributed this to the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who saved the Russian land from ruin. Apparently this is why the Ugra began to be called the “belt of the Virgin Mary”. Ivan III with his son and all the army returned to Moscow, “And all the people rejoiced and rejoiced exceedingly with great joy”.

The results of “standing” in the Horde were perceived differently. On January 6, 1481, Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat withdrew from Sarai, probably fearing assassination attempts. Civil strife began in the Great Horde.

Results

In Standing on the Ugra Russian army applied new tactical and strategic techniques:

coordinated actions with Mengli I's ally Giray, which diverted the military forces of Casimir IV from the clash;
Ivan III sent troops along the Volga to the Great Horde to destroy the defenseless Khan's capital, which was a new military-tactical ploy and took the Horde by surprise;
Ivan III's successful attempt to avoid a military clash, in which there was neither military nor political necessity - the Horde was greatly weakened, its days as a state were numbered.

The “Standing” put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Moscow state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally. The diplomatic efforts of Ivan III prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites also made their contribution to the salvation of Rus', stopping the German offensive by the fall.

For many years, Rus' was oppressed by Tatar-Mongol rule. But gradually the situation changed. Russian rulers behaved more and more independently. In 1476, Grand Duke Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Great Horde. The Great Khan Akhmat did not immediately move his army to pacify the rebellious ruler - he was busy fighting. In 1480, the Russian state refused to completely submit to the Horde.

Akhmat Khan

Having gathered an army, Akhmat went to Moscow. The Russians understood that if Khan reached Moscow, then victory would be his. And therefore they decided to meet the horde in advance. But these events were preceded by heated debates among the Russian nobility. Part of the elite advised the Grand Duke to flee, but the Grand Duke, perhaps under the influence of the Muscovites, decided to give battle to the Khan.

Ivan III began to gather an army near the Oka River, while he himself remained in Kolomna. The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought to Moscow, with whose intercession the deliverance from Tamerlane’s invasion was associated.

Khan Akhmat walked through the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, accompanied by Lithuanians loyal to him, to Vorotynsk. It was here that he waited for help from King Casimir IV of Poland. But the king had his own concerns. The allies of Ivan the Third, the Crimeans, raided Podolia. Therefore, Khan was forced to act alone. Having learned about the troops gathered on the Oka, he moved towards the Ugra. The Grand Duke also sent his troops there.

It is unlikely that Akhmat’s plans included the suddenness of his military maneuver. Rather, he resorted to the traditional Mongol tactic of intimidation by numbers.

In the fall, Ivan the Third arrived from Kolomna to Moscow for a council with the boyars and clergy, at which they decided to give battle to the khan. Russian squads stood along the Ugra for about 60 versts; attempts by the Tatars to cross the river were stopped by them.

Khan Akhmat withdrew his troops inland from the river, the Russians stood on the other bank. Thus began the great stand on the Ugra. The opponents still did not dare to fight. Akhmat demanded the obedience of the Moscow prince, expecting his son or brother as envoys with the tribute that the Russians owed him for the previous seven years. But the boyar’s son was sent to him for negotiations, which simply delayed time.

The situation was in favor of the Moscow prince. There were allies on the approaches, the Crimean Khan was ravaging the Lithuanian lands with might and main, preventing the Polish king from coming to the rescue of Akhmat.

Failed battle

There was another one important point. The Horde used sheep as food, since the army was mounted, the horses destroyed all the supplies around the site. The Russians received provisions from the Grand Duke's warehouses. And the main army was on foot. And most importantly, the Horde began to be decimated by a disease, which was later identified presumably as dysentery. The Russian army was not affected by the disease.

And the main strategic point is that Ivan the Third benefited from the absence of a clash, while for Akhmat the battle was vital.

The clergy also supported Ivan - Archbishop Vassian sent the prince a message of parting words. Akhmat, having gathered a huge army, left almost no reserve in the horde itself. Therefore, he sent the governor Vasily Nozdrevaty on a raid through enemy territory. The Crimean prince Nur-Devlet and his horsemen accompanied Vasily on this raid.

The coming winter changed the prince's strategy. He decided to retreat deeper into the territory, to more advantageous positions. Khan Akhmat, having learned about the raid of Prince Vasily with the Crimeans, as well as about their intentions to take the capital of the Khanate, decided not to accept battle with the squads and began to withdraw the army. Lack of food also played a significant role in this decision.

On the way back, he began to plunder Lithuanian settlements in revenge for Casimir's betrayal. In just two days, both troops left for different sides from a collision. If this was a victory on the part of the prince, then the khan definitely lost this failed battle.

Many contemporaries attributed the Khan's retreat to the intercession of the Mother of God, hence the second name of the Ugra River - the belt of the Mother of God.

Moscow greeted the prince with jubilation and celebrated the return of its troops as a victory. The Khan was greeted quite differently in Sarai, the capital of the horde. In early January, Akhmat, who left Sarai due to fear of assassination attempts, was killed by the Tyumen prince Ibak in a poorly protected headquarters, most likely at the instigation of Ivan the Third.
The Greater Horde began to be torn apart by hostility and struggle for power between the khans.

The stand on the Ugra revealed new diplomatic techniques used by the rulers of the principality. These are successful alliance treaties, which largely freed up his hands to act behind enemy lines, and the raid of Prince Vasily himself, which forced Akhmat to retreat. And, in fact, the very avoidance of a collision, which the Russians no longer needed - the days of the Horde were numbered.

It is the “standing” that is considered the final point in the Tatar-Mongol yoke, where Rus', having received not formal, but actual sovereignty, began its path as a great power.

The last invasion of Horde troops into Russian lands

The stand on the Ugra also had far-reaching consequences - part of the Lithuanian lands went to the Moscow principality. The Grand Duke was an extraordinary diplomat - he avoided conflict with the Horde until the last. Even in 1502, he calls himself a “servant” of the Horde, although in the same year it was defeated by the Crimean Khan Menli I Giray.

The concept of “Tatar yoke” was introduced by the historian Karamzin. A number of historians, mostly foreign, deny the significance of the “standing on the Ugra” event, considering it an ordinary diplomatic event. As evidence for this version, it is said that the payment of tribute, although it decreased significantly, did not stop. Arguments were also given in favor of this that in the records of contemporaries there is no evidence of liberation from the Tatars.

Other historians believed that the council of boyars and the fierce confrontation between the two parties was clear evidence that the events were more significant than a simple diplomatic clash.

The Grand Duke modestly writes about this event: “Akhmat Khan attacked me, but the all-merciful God wanted to save us from him and did so.”

The stand on the Ugra was of great importance because it was the last invasion of the Horde troops into Russian lands. In honor of the quincentenary, in 1980, a monument was unveiled at the site of these long-standing events.

Standing on the Ugra River In 1476, Ivan III stopped paying the Horde the annual cash “exit” that had been collected from Russian lands since the time of Batu. Khan of the Golden Horde Akhmat was busy with the war with Crimea and could not take decisive measures to “pacify” Moscow, waiting for a favorable moment. It came for him by 1480. Firstly, the Polish-Lithuanian King Casimir promised him military assistance; secondly, a difficult internal situation was created in the Grand Duchy of Moscow itself: fearing the strengthening of the power of Ivan III, his brothers Boris and Andrei Bolshoi opposed him. When the Livonian Order attacked the western borders of the Russian state at the beginning of 1480, Akhmat moved his troops to Moscow. In the fall, the main forces set out on a campaign. Knowing that the regiments of Ivan III were stationed on the Oka River, in Serpukhov, Tarusa, Kolomna, the Tatar-Mongols went to the Ugra, bypassing, intending to unite with the troops of Casimir and attack Moscow from the west. On October 3, the Moscow Grand Duke, after prolonged strife, finally agreed , with his brothers Boris and Andrei Bolshoi about joint actions against the Tatars. The Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, having an agreement with Ivan III, in turn attacked the Podolian lands and thus forced Casimir to go to war with him. As a result, Casimir could no longer come to the aid of Akhmat. The first Sofia Chronicle on this occasion says that Akhmat, standing at Vorotynsk, could not wait for help and then on October 8 approached the Ugra, stopping on its right bank opposite the mouth of the Vori. On the left bank, the regiments of Ivan III were secretly placed under the leadership of his son Ivan the Young and brother Andrei Menshoy. The Grand Duke himself founded his headquarters in the city of Kremenets, where he concentrated his main forces to cover central areas from a possible attack by Lithuania and the Golden Horde. Akhmat made an attempt to cross the Ugra at Opakov and Dmitrovets. The vanguard of the Tatar troops was met by the Russian army. A particularly large battle took place at the mouth of the Vori. Every Russian warrior fought until his last breath. But the Tatars kept coming and coming. By the end of the day, they occupied the left bank. The next day, at dawn, the Tatar cavalry again rushed forward to clear the way for the main forces into the Vori floodplain. Their battle cry was heard throughout the forests and valleys. And suddenly, as if from underground, Russian regiments appeared. The bloody slaughter began. The Russian soldiers fought courageously, many enemies were beaten, but the Tatars pressed on like locusts. The battle for the crossings on the Ugra lasted for four days; The Russians used light cannons (regimental outfit), squeaks and self-propelled guns. “Firearms of that time were not distinguished by their rate of fire and accuracy, but the fire and roar of shots instilled panic in the Horde cavalry and often put them to flight before hand-to-hand combat.” Meanwhile, cold weather set in. The Golden Horde were freezing, having no winter clothes; There was also a shortage of food and fodder. And the entire area was plundered long ago. Discord began among the Murzas. On October 20, the brothers of Ivan III arrived at the head of their regiments in Kremenets. Squads and militias from remote cities of the Moscow Grand Duchy approached the Ugra River. On October 26, the Ugra was covered with ice. Akhmat could now easily cross it, but did not risk it. On November 11, without waiting for Casimir’s help, he began to retreat. Nevertheless, the ruler of the Golden Horde considered his flight a temporary failure. He sent a “label” to Moscow demanding payment of tribute, threatening a new invasion. He did not have to carry out his threat. His close associates, the Nagai Murzas, dealt with him: they killed Akhmat. The Golden Horde was unable to restore its former power. The year 1480 was the year of the liquidation of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, which had weighed on Russia for 240 years.

Standing on the Ugra River

The year 1476 in the history of Rus' was marked by the fact that the Principality of Moscow refused to pay tribute to the Horde. Disobedience could not go unpunished and Khan Akhmat, having gathered an army, set out on a campaign in the spring of 1480. However, the Tatars only managed to reach the mouth of the Ugra, where the Russian army was able to stop the enemies.

All existing fords were blocked, as a result of which the Tatars spent several days on completely unsuccessful attempts to cross the river. Then, deciding to wait for help from the troops of Casimir 4, Prince of Poland-Lithuania, Akhmat retreated to Luza. These events marked the beginning of the confrontation known as the Standing on the Ugra River.

Negotiations with Akhmat Ivana 3 were not productive. Ivan 3 retreated to Borovsk, where his army took a more advantageous position for battle. Akhmat, who was expecting help, soon realized that he would not receive the 4 troops promised by Casimir. At the same time, he was informed about the appearance of a powerful Russian army in the rear of the Tatars. These circumstances led to the decision to retreat. It should be noted that neither side resorted to active action during the Great Standing.

The Great Stand on the Ugra River was of great importance. It marked the final deliverance from the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the acquisition of not only formal, but also actual independence from the Horde of the Moscow Principality.

Akhmat was killed in 1491. This happened during the winter at the mouth of the Donets during a battle with the soldiers of Khan Irbak. The death of Khan Akhmat resulted in a fierce struggle for power in the Horde and its subsequent collapse. Standing on the Ugra was so important that in honor of the 500th anniversary of this event, a memorial monument was erected on the bank of the river.

Great Stand on the Ugra River

In 1476 Muscovy refused to pay tribute to the Tatars. Khan Akhmat, who was the ruler of the Horde at that time, set out on a campaign in the spring of 1480. But the Mongol army was stopped by the Russian army in the area of the mouth of the Ugra, all the fords through which were blocked. The Tatars' attempts to seize the crossing, which continued for several days, were unsuccessful. After this, Akhmat’s troops retreated to Luza, deciding to wait for help from Prince Casimir of Poland-Lithuania 4. Thus began the Great Stand on the Ugra River.

Negotiation Ivana 3 with Akhmat were unsuccessful and, as a result, the prince took his troops to Borovsk, which allowed him to give battle in more favorable conditions if the Tatars crossed the river. However, neither side decided to take active action. Khan Akhmat, not receiving the help promised by the Lithuanian ruler and learning that there was a Russian army in his rear, decided to retreat.

Standing on the Ugra River marked the acquisition of not only formal, but also actual independence of the Moscow Principality, the final fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. At the mouth of the Donets, on January 6, 1481, during wintering, Khan Akhmat was killed during a military clash with the soldiers of the Siberian Khan Irbak. As a result of the struggle for power that began after this, the Horde broke up into smaller independent khanates. The Russian state fought against these fragments of the Horde until the 18th century. In honor of the 500th anniversary of the Standing on the Ugra River, a monument dedicated to the event was unveiled on its bank.

According to the traditional narrative, in 1476, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde, and in 1480 he refused to recognize Rus'’s dependence on it. Despite this, according to the American historian Charles Halperin, the lack of evidence in the annals recording the exact date of the cessation of tribute payment does not allow proving that tribute was stopped being paid in 1476; The dating and the very authenticity of Khan Akhmat’s label to Grand Duke Ivan III, containing information about the termination of the payment of tribute, remains a subject of debate in the academic community. According to the Vologda-Perm Chronicle, Khan Akhmat in 1480, during negotiations, reproached Ivan III for not paying tribute for the ninth year. Based, in particular, on this document, A. A. Gorsky concluded that the payment of tribute ceased in 1472, on the eve of the battle of Aleksin.

Khan Akhmat, busy fighting the Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active actions against the Grand Duchy of Moscow. He managed to negotiate with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV on military assistance. Meanwhile, the Pskov land at the beginning of 1480 was attacked by the Livonian Order. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernhard von der Borg:

In January 1480, his brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi rebelled against Ivan III, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke.

Course of events in 1480

Start of hostilities

Taking advantage of the current situation, Khan Akhmat organized reconnaissance of the right bank of the Oka River in June 1480, and set out with the main forces in the fall.

« That same summer, the ill-famed Tsar Akhmat... went against Orthodox Christianity, against Rus', against the holy churches and against the Grand Duke, boasting of destroying the holy churches and captivating all Orthodoxy and the Grand Duke himself, as under Batu Besha.»

The boyar elite in the Grand Duchy of Moscow split into two groups: one (“ rich and potbellied money lovers"), led by the okolnichy Ivan Oshchera and Grigory Mamon, advised Ivan III to flee; the other defended the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Ivan III began to gather troops to the banks of the Oka, sending his brother, the Vologda prince Andrei Menshoy, to his fiefdom, Tarusa, and his son Ivan the Young to Serpukhov. The Grand Duke himself arrived on June 23 at Kolomna, where he stopped awaiting the further course of events. On the same day, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession the salvation of Rus' from the troops of Tamerlane was associated back in 1395.

Meanwhile, the troops of Khan Akhmat moved freely through the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, accompanied by Lithuanian guides, through Mtsensk, Odoev and Lyubutsk to Vorotynsk. Here the khan expected help from King Casimir IV, but he never received it. The Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian troops by attacking Podolia. Knowing that Russian regiments were waiting for him on the Oka, Khan Akhmat decided, after passing through Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory across the Ugra River. Grand Duke Ivan III, having received information about such intentions, sent his son Ivan and brother Andrei the Lesser to Kaluga and to the banks of the Ugra. However, according to Michael Khodarkovsky, Khan Akhmat had no intention of using the effect of surprise and ruining the Principality of Moscow, relying instead on the traditional tactics of intimidation by superior numbers of troops and forcing submission.

Standing on the Ugra

On September 30, Ivan III returned from Kolomna to Moscow " to council and thought"with the metropolitan and boyars. The Grand Duke received a unanimous answer, “ to stand firmly for Orthodox Christianity against lack of faith" On the same days, ambassadors from Andrei Bolshoi and Boris Volotsky came to Ivan III, who announced the end of the rebellion. The Grand Duke forgave the brothers and ordered them to move with their regiments to the Oka. On October 3, Ivan III left Moscow and headed to the city of Kremenets (now the village of Kremenskoye, Medynsky district Kaluga region), where he remained with a small detachment, and sent the rest of the troops to the shore of the Ugra. At the same time, Russian troops stretched along the river in a thin line for as much as 60 versts. Meanwhile, an attempt by one of Khan Akhmat’s troops to cross the Ugra in the Opakova settlement area failed, where it was repulsed.

On October 8, Khan Akhmat himself tried to cross the Ugra, but his attack was repulsed by the forces of Ivan the Young.

« And the Tatars came and the Muscovites began to shoot, and the Muscovites began to shoot at them and squeaked away and killed many of the Tatars with arrows and saw blades and drove them away from the shore...».

This happened in the area of a five-kilometer section of the Ugra, up from its mouth, to the confluence of the Rosvyanka River. Subsequently, the Horde’s attempts to cross continued for several days, were repulsed by Russian artillery fire and did not bring the desired success to the troops of Khan Akhmat. They retreated two miles from Ugra and stood in Luza. Ivan III's troops took up defensive positions on the opposite bank of the river. The famous " standing on the Ugra" Skirmishes broke out periodically, but neither side dared to launch a serious attack.

In this situation, negotiations began. Akhmat demanded that the Grand Duke himself or his son, or at least his brother, and also that the Russians pay the tribute they owed for seven years. Ivan III sent Tovarkov’s boyar son Ivan Fedorovich as an embassy “ companions with gifts" On Ivan's part, demands for tribute were rejected, gifts were not accepted by Akhmat - negotiations were interrupted. It is quite possible that Ivan went towards them, trying to gain time, since the situation was slowly changing in his favor, since

On these same days, October 15-20, Ivan III received a fiery message from Archbishop Vassian of Rostov with a call to follow the example of the former princes:

« ...who not only defended the Russian land from the filthy(that is, not Christians) , but they also subjugated other countries... Just take courage and be strong, my spiritual son, as a good warrior of Christ, according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel: “You are the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”…»

End of the confrontation

Having learned that Khan Akhmat, trying to achieve a numerical advantage, mobilized the Great Horde as much as possible, so that there were no significant reserves of troops left on its territory, Ivan III allocated a small but combat-ready detachment, under the command of the Zvenigorod governor, Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, who was supposed to go down the Oka, then along the Volga to its lower reaches and commit devastating sabotage in the possessions of Khan Akhmat. The Crimean prince Nur-Devlet and his nukers also took part in this expedition.

The onset of cold weather and the upcoming freeze-up forced Ivan III to change his previous tactics to prevent the Horde from crossing the Ugra with a Russian army stretched over 60 miles. On October 28, 1480, the Grand Duke decided to withdraw troops to Kremenets and then concentrate them at Borovsk in order to fight there in a favorable environment. Khan Akhmat, having learned that in his deep rear there was a sabotage detachment of Prince Nozdrevaty and the Crimean prince Nur-Devlet, intending to capture and plunder the capital of the Horde (perhaps he also received information about the impending attack of the Nogai Tatars), and also experiencing a lack of food, did not dare follow the Russians and at the end of October - early November also began to withdraw his troops. On November 11, Khan Akhmat decided to go back to the Horde. On the way back, the Horde plundered the towns and districts of 12 Lithuanian cities (Mtsensk, Serpeisk, Kozelsk and others), which was revenge on King Casimir IV for unprovided military assistance.

Results

For those who watched from the sidelines how both troops almost simultaneously (within two days) turned back without bringing the matter to a decisive battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received a simplified explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, fearing accept the battle. In Rus', contemporaries attributed this to the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who saved the Russian land from ruin. Apparently, this is why the Ugra River began to be called the “belt of the Virgin Mary.” Grand Duke Ivan III with all his army returned to Moscow, " and all the people rejoiced and rejoiced greatly with great joy».

The results of “standing” in the Horde were perceived differently. On January 6, 1481, Khan Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak (probably carried out with prior agreement with Ivan III) on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat withdrew from Sarai, probably fearing assassination attempts. Civil strife began in the Great Horde.

In the “Standing on the Ugra” the Russian army used new tactical and strategic techniques:

coordinated actions with an ally, the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray, which diverted the military forces of the Polish king Casimir IV from the clash;
sending by Ivan III to the rear of Khan Akhmat in the Great Horde along the Volga a detachment to destroy the defenseless khan's capital, which was a new military-tactical ploy and took the Horde by surprise;
Ivan III's successful attempt to avoid a military clash, in which there was neither military nor political necessity - the Horde was greatly weakened, its days as a state were numbered.

It is traditionally believed that the “standing” put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Russian state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally. The diplomatic efforts of Ivan III prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites also made their contribution to the salvation of Rus', stopping the German offensive by the fall.

The acquisition of political independence from the Horde, along with the spread of Moscow's influence over the Kazan Khanate (1487), played a role in the subsequent transition of part of the lands under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Moscow. In 1502, when Ivan III, for diplomatic reasons, " flatteringly"Admitted himself to be the slave of the Khan of the Great Horde, its weakened army was defeated by the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray, and the Horde itself ceased to exist.

In Russian historiography, the term “Tatar yoke,” as well as the position about its overthrow by Ivan III, originates from N. M. Karamzin, who used the word “yoke” in the form of an artistic epithet in original meaning"a collar placed around the neck" ("bowed the neck under the yoke of the barbarians"), possibly borrowing the term from the 16th-century Polish author Maciej Miechowski.

A number of modern American researchers deny the “Standing on the Ugra” a historical significance that goes beyond an ordinary diplomatic incident, and its connection with the overthrow of the Horde yoke (like the very concept of “Tatar yoke”) is considered a historiographical myth. Thus, according to Donald Ostrovsky, although the payment of tribute was reduced by seven times, it did not stop, and the remaining changes affected only the minting of coins. He considers the accusation of passivity towards the Horde, brought against Ivan III in the “Message to the Ugra” by Archbishop Vassian, to be evidence that contemporaries did not see qualitative changes in the position of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Charles Halperin believes that in 1480 there were no texts in which the question of Russian liberation from the Tatar yoke was raised (this also applies to the “Message to the Ugra,” the dating of which to 1480 is also not indisputable).

A counterweight this opinion, V.N. Rudakov writes about a serious struggle in the circle of Ivan III between those who believed that the Grand Duke had the right to fight the “godless tsar” and those who denied him such a right.

Monument "Standing on the Ugra 1480"

The overthrow of the “Horde yoke”, the idea of which stems from biblical texts about the “Babylonian captivity”, and in one form or another has been found in Russian sources since the 13th century, was applied to the events of 1480 starting with the “Kazan History” (not earlier than 1560- x years). The Ugra River acquired the status of the last and decisive confrontation from historiographers of the 16th century for the reason that it was the last major invasion of the Great Horde into the lands of the Moscow Principality.

Memory

The stela “Confrontation of the Tatar-Mongol Yoke” is located opposite the village of Znamenka, Ugransky district, Smolensk region, at the same time the location of the object cultural heritage belongs to Velikopolyevo rural settlement.

In 1980, during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Stand on the Ugra, a monument was unveiled on the bank of the river in the Kaluga region in honor of this significant event in Russian history.