Ever since school years, everyone knows the traditional version of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russian lands. According to her, everything was approximately like this: at the beginning of the thirteenth century, in the Mongol steppes, Genghis Khan gathered nomads, forming a large army, and wanted to conquer the whole world. Severe discipline reigned in the army. After the conquest of China, the troops of Genghis Khan went west, and by 1223 they approached the southern lands of Rus, where the famous battle on the Kalka River took place, when the squads of the Russian princes were defeated.
At the beginning of 1237, the Mongol-Tatar army invaded the lands of Russia, leaving behind a shrine in the place of hundreds of cities, after which it invaded the territory of Poland, Czech Republic and reached the shores of the Adriatic. However, after this, the Mongol-Tatars abruptly set off back, because they were afraid to leave the ruined, but still dangerous Russia.
Since then, the lands of Russia were under the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars. The lands of the Golden Horde stretched from Beijing to the Volga, and its rulers pulled tribute from the Russian princes. The khans of the Mongol-Tatars terrified the people with robberies and all kinds of atrocities, and the princes received special permission to rule.
The official version mentions that there were many Christians among the Mongol-Tatars, therefore some of the princes who ruled in Russia often established rather warm relations with the khans. Moreover, some princes, with the assistance and assistance of the Horde troops, even held the throne. In certain cases, Russian squads fought on the side of the Horde, and the princes were very close people with the khans. All this looks more than strange, since it would be quite logical to assume that the attitude towards the occupiers should be completely different.
After Russia got a little stronger, she managed to resist the Horde, and in 1380 a battle took place on the Kulikovo field, in which Dmitry Donskoy managed to defeat the troops of Khan Mamai. A century later, the troops of the Horde Khan Akhmat and Prince Ivan III entered the confrontation. For a long time, the opponents stood on different banks of the Ugra River, but then the khan came to the conclusion that he had few chances, so he ordered to retreat and moved with his army across the Volga. It is these events that are considered to be the end of the Mongol-Tatars yoke among specialists.
Scientists who study the chronicles of the Golden Horde period have many questions related to the disappearance of dozens of manuscripts during the reign of the Romanov dynasty. In particular, historians argue, it seems that from the "Lay of the death of the Russian land" all the places in which the yoke was mentioned were carefully removed. Only small fragments were left, which spoke of a certain "misfortune" that befell Russia. However, there is not a single word about the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars.
There are many other oddities. In particular, the story about the "evil Tatars" contains a fragment in which the Golden Horde khan ordered the execution of the Russian Christian prince only because he refused to worship the Slavic pagan god. Some of the chronicle sources generally contain very surprising phrases, in particular, "Well, with God" (these words were said by the khan before the start of the campaign and crossed himself).
Researchers are also interested in the question why there are so many Christians among the Mongol-Tatar warriors? In addition, the descriptions of warriors and princes contain unusual moments: according to ancient sources, many had a typical Caucasian appearance with light brown hair and large blue or gray eyes.
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And one more circumstance that causes bewilderment of scientists: for some unknown reason, in the battle on Kalka, Russian princes surrendered "on parole" to a representative of the Horde. On the side of the foreigners there was a certain Ploskinya, and for some reason he was kissing his pectoral cross. It is entirely possible to assume, say the researchers, that he was Orthodox, moreover, he was a representative of a noble family.
Historians during the reign of the House of Romanov, in addition, estimated the number of the Mongol-Tatar army at three or four hundred thousand. However, such a large number of warriors and war horses simply could not not only hide in the copses, but also feed themselves in a harsh winter. In recent decades, researchers have somewhat reduced these numbers and converged on three tens of thousands. In this case, another paradox arises: such a relatively small army could not subdue and keep in subjection those peoples who lived in the territories from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. However, in such a number, the Mongol-Tatars could collect taxes and restore order, in other words, perform the functions of the police.
Such a significant number of paradoxes and inaccuracies ultimately served as the impetus for the fact that some experts, including A. Fomenko, made a sensational statement, which is based on a mathematical analysis of ancient handwritten sources: there is no question of any invasion from the territory of modern Mongolia. can. The events that took place in Russia are an internecine struggle, during which the princes tried to seize power, and in reality no Mongols attacked Russia. There were Tatars in the princely squads, but they were not the Horde, but the inhabitants of the Volga region, who long before those historical upheavals lived in the neighborhood with Russia.
And what is customary among historians to be called the Mongol-Tatar yoke, in reality was a struggle for the sole rule of Russia, which was waged between the descendants of Prince Vsevolod. Researchers agree that there was a constant struggle between the princes, and the unification of the Russian lands did not happen immediately.
But … then who was Dmitry Donskoy fighting against? And who was Mamai really?
A characteristic phenomenon for the era of the Golden Horde was the presence, along with power, of a powerful secular military power. To put it simply, there were several rulers at once: a prince, a representative of secular power, and a khan - in other words, a military leader. Some chronicles say that warlords were at the head of the Horde's troops. Based on a detailed study of these texts, historians have put forward the assumption that in fact the Horde was a regular Russian army. And Mongolo-Tataria is Great Russia. Thus, following the logic of the researchers, it is possible to make an assumption that Russia, and not the Horde, conquered vast territories from the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean to the Indian and Arctic Oceans. It was the Russian troops who were driving fear throughout Europe.
Moreover, experts note, the word "Mongol", quite likely, originated from the Latin "megalion", which means "great", the German word "ordnung" (order) - from the word "horde", "Tataria" - from " tartar "(horror, hell).
A few words must be said about names. Most people in those distant times bore several names: one is the one that was used in the world, the second is the one that was given at baptism or was received in battle. Some historians are sure that the names Genghis Khan and Batu belonged to the princes Yaroslav and Alexander Nevsky. According to ancient manuscripts, Genghis Khan was distinguished by his tall stature, had green-yellow eyes and a luxurious long beard. However, the men - representatives of the Mongoloids, did not wear beards. And according to the testimony of the Persian historian Rashid ad Din, in the family of Genghis Khan, children were born with gray eyes and blond hair. Thus, experts are convinced that Genghis Khan is Prince Yaroslav, who bore the middle name Chinggis (with the prefix "khan", which meant "military leader").
Something similar can be said about Batu. The chronicles contain mentions that Batu was light-bearded, light-eyed and blond. Moreover, you can even find a phrase that Alexander Nevsky had the nickname Batu.
After a detailed study of the chronicle sources, the researchers found that Mamai and Akhmat belonged to noble families that had the right to rule in Russia. The struggle between Alexander Nevsky and Mamai, therefore, is one of the episodes of the internecine struggle for power in Russia.
In ancient sources, you can indeed find evidence that the Horde went to war against Russia. However, at the same time it is necessary not to forget that in those days a relatively small territory was called Rus, which captured Kiev, Kursk, Chernigov, Seversky lands and the territory near the Ros river. And, for example, residents of Novgorod were already northern residents.
Thus, it turns out that if the Moscow prince decided to go to war against his southern neighbor, then it could well be called the Horde invasion of Russia.
Consequently, in the history of Russia there are still many white spots about which practically nothing is known. Undoubtedly, this version may well be refuted, but this task is already for a new generation of historians.