Battle of Kulikovo briefly

The Russian man takes a long time to harness, but rides quickly

Russian folk proverb

The Battle of Kulikovo took place on September 8, 1380, but it was preceded by a number of important events. Beginning in 1374, relations between Russia and the Horde began to become noticeably more complicated. If earlier the issues of paying tribute and the supremacy of the Tatars over all the lands of Rus' did not cause discussion, now a situation began to develop when the princes began to feel their own strength, in which they saw an opportunity to repel the formidable enemy who had been ravaging their lands for many years. It was in 1374 that Dmitry Donskoy actually broke off relations with the Horde, not recognizing Mamai’s power over himself. Such freethinking could not be ignored. The Mongols did not leave.

Background to the Battle of Kulikovo, briefly

Along with the events described above, the death of the Lithuanian king Olgerd occurred. His place was taken by Jagiello, who first decided to establish relations with the powerful Horde. As a result, the Mongol-Tatars received a powerful ally, and Russia found itself sandwiched between enemies: from the east by the Tatars, from the west by the Lithuanians. This in no way shook the Russians' resolve to repel the enemy. Moreover, an army was assembled, headed by Dmitry Bobrok-Valyntsev. He made a campaign against the lands on the Volga and captured several cities. Which belonged to the Horde.

The next major events that created the preconditions for the Battle of Kulikovo took place in 1378. It was then that a rumor spread throughout Rus' that the Horde had sent a large army to punish the rebellious Russians. Previous lessons showed that the Mongol-Tatars burn out everything in their path, which means they cannot be allowed into fertile lands. Grand Duke Dmitry gathered a squad and set off to meet the enemy. Their meeting took place near the Vozha River. The Russian maneuver had a surprise factor. Never before had the prince's squad descended so deep into the south of the country to fight the enemy. But the fight was inevitable. The Tatars were unprepared for him. The Russian army won the victory quite easily. This gave even more confidence that the Mongols ordinary people and you can fight them.

Preparing for the battle - the Battle of Kulikovo in brief

The events at the Vozha River were the last straw. Mamai wanted revenge. Batu’s laurels haunted him and the new khan dreamed of repeating his feat and walking through all of Rus' with fire. Recent events have shown that the Russians are not as weak as before, which means the Mongols need an ally. They found him quickly enough. Mamai’s allies were:

• King of Lithuania - Jogaila.
• Prince of Ryazan - Oleg.

Historical documents indicate that the Prince of Ryazan took a contradictory position, trying to guess the winner. To do this, he entered into an alliance with the Horde, but at the same time regularly reported information about the movements of the Mongol army to other principalities. Mamai himself gathered a strong army, which included regiments from all lands that were controlled by the Horde, including the Crimean Tatars.

Training of Russian troops

Impending events required decisive action from the Grand Duke. It was at this moment that it was necessary to gather a strong army that could repel the enemy and show the whole world that Rus' had not been completely conquered. About 30 cities expressed their readiness to provide their squads to the united army. Many thousands of soldiers entered the detachment, the command of which was taken by Dmitry himself, as well as other princes:

• Dmitry Bobrok-Volynits
• Vladimir Serpukhovsky
• Andrey Olgerdovich
• Dmitry Olgerdovich

At the same time, the whole country rose up to fight. Literally everyone who could hold a sword in their hands enrolled in the squad. Hatred of the enemy became the factor that united the divided Russian lands. Let it be only for a while. The combined army advanced to the Don, where it was decided to repel Mamai.

Battle of Kulikovo - briefly about the course of the battle

On September 7, 1380, the Russian army approached the Don. The position was quite dangerous, since holding the ruck had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it was easier to fight against the Mongol-Tatars, since they would have to cross the river. The disadvantage is that Jagiello and Oleg Ryazansky could arrive at the battlefield at any moment. In this case, the rear of the Russian army would be completely open. The only correct decision was made: the Russian army crossed the Don and burned all the bridges after itself. This managed to secure the rear.

Prince Dmitry resorted to cunning. The main forces of the Russian army lined up in a classical manner. In front stood a “large regiment”, which was supposed to hold back the main onslaught of the enemy; a regiment of the right and left hands was located at the edges. At the same time, it was decided to use the Ambush Regiment, which was hidden in the thicket of the forest. This regiment was led by the best princes Dmitry Bobrok and Vladimir Serpukhovsky.

The Battle of Kulikovo began in the early morning of September 8, 1380, as soon as the fog cleared over the Kulikovo field. According to chronicle sources, the battle began with the battle of heroes. The Russian monk Peresvet fought with the Horde member Chelubey. The blow of the warriors' spears was so strong that both of them died on the spot. After this the battle began.

Dmitry, despite his status, put on the armor of a simple warrior and stood at the head of the Great Regiment. With his courage, the prince inspired the soldiers to the feat that they had to accomplish. The initial onslaught of the Horde was terrible. They threw all the force of their blow onto the left-hand regiment, where the Russian troops began to noticeably lose ground. At the moment when Mamai’s army broke through the defenses in this place, and also when it began to maneuver in order to go to the rear of the main forces of the Russians, the Ambush Regiment entered the battle, which with terrible force and unexpectedly struck the attacking Horde in the rear. The panic began. The Tatars were sure that God himself was against them. Convinced that they had killed everyone behind them, they said that it was the dead Russians rising to fight. In this state, they lost the battle quite quickly and Mamai and his horde were forced to hastily retreat. Thus ended the Battle of Kulikovo.

Many people on both sides were killed in the battle. Dmitry himself could not be found for a very long time. Towards evening, when the corpses of the dead were being cleared from the field, the body of the prince was discovered. He was alive!

Historical significance of the Battle of Kulikovo

Historical meaning The Battle of Kulikovo cannot be overestimated. For the first time, the myth of the invincibility of the Horde army was broken. If previously various armies managed to achieve success in minor battles, then no one has ever been able to defeat the main forces of the Horde.

The important point for the Russian people was that the Battle of Kulikovo, which we briefly described, allowed them to feel faith in themselves. For more than a hundred years, the Mongols forced them to consider themselves second-class citizens. Now this was over, and for the first time conversations began that Mamai’s power and his yoke could be thrown off. These events found expression in literally everything. And it is precisely with this that the cultural transformations that affected all aspects of the life of Rus' are largely connected.

The significance of the Battle of Kulikovo also lies in the fact that this victory was perceived by everyone as a sign that Moscow should become the center of the new country. After all, only after Dmitry Donskoy began to collect lands around Moscow, there was a major victory over the Mongols.

For the horde itself, the significance of the defeat on the Kulikovo field was also extremely important. Mamai lost most of his army, and was soon completely defeated by Khan Takhtomysh. This allowed the Horde to once again unite forces and feel its own strength and significance in those spaces that had previously not even thought of resisting it.

The Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 is the most important event in the history of medieval Rus', which largely determined future fate Russian state. The Battle of the Kulikovo Field served as the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the yoke of the Golden Horde. The growing power of the Moscow principality, the strengthening of its authority among the Russian principalities, Moscow’s refusal to pay tribute to the Horde, defeat in the battle on the river. Vozhe became the main reasons for the plan of the temnik of the Golden Horde Mamai to organize a large campaign against Rus'.

BATTLE OF KULIKOVO - the battle of Russian regiments led by the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich and the Horde army under the command of Khan Mamai on September 8, 1380 on the Kulikovo field (on the right bank of the Don, in the area where the Nepryadva River flows into it), a turning point in the struggle of the Russian people with the yoke of the Golden Horde.

After the defeat of the Golden Horde troops on the Vozha River in 1378, the Horde temnik (the military leader who commanded the “darkness”, that is, 10,000 troops), chosen by the khan, named Mamai, decided to break the Russian princes and increase their dependence on the Horde. In the summer of 1380 he gathered an army numbering approx. 100-150 thousand warriors. In addition to the Tatars and Mongols, there were detachments of Ossetians, Armenians, Genoese living in the Crimea, Circassians, and a number of other peoples. Mamai agreed to be an ally Grand Duke Lithuanian Jagiello, whose army was supposed to support the Horde, moving along the Oka. Another ally of Mamai - according to a number of chronicles - was the Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich. According to other chronicles, Oleg Ivanovich only verbally expressed his readiness to ally, promising Mamai to fight on the side of the Tatars, but he himself immediately warned the Russian army about the threatening union of Mamai and Jagiello.

At the end of July 1380, having learned about the intentions of the Horde and Lithuanians to fight with Russia, Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich made an appeal for the gathering of Russian military forces in the capital and Kolomna, and soon gathered an army slightly smaller than Mamai’s army. Mostly it consisted of Muscovites and warriors from lands that recognized the power of the Moscow prince, although a number of lands loyal to Moscow - Novogorod, Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod- did not express their readiness to support Dmitry. The main rival of the Prince of Moscow, the Prince of Tver, did not give his “wars”. Conducted by Dmitry military reform, having strengthened the core of the Russian army at the expense of the princely cavalry, gave access to the number of warriors to numerous artisans and townspeople who made up the “heavy infantry”. The foot warriors, by order of the commander, were armed with spears with narrow-leaved tips triangular shape, tightly mounted on long strong shafts, or throwing spears with dagger-shaped tips. Against the foot soldiers of the Horde (of which there were few), Russian warriors had sabers, and for long-range combat they were provided with bows, knobby helmets, metal ears and chain mail aventails (shoulder collars), the warrior’s chest was covered with scaly, plate or stacked armor, combined with chain mail . The old almond-shaped shields were replaced by round, triangular, rectangular and heart-shaped shields.

Dmitry's campaign plan was to prevent Khan Mamai from connecting with an ally or allies, force him to cross the Oka, or do it themselves, unexpectedly going out to meet the enemy. Dmitry received a blessing to fulfill his plan from Abbot Sergius of the Radonezh Monastery. Sergius predicted victory for the prince and, according to legend, sent with him “to battle” two monks of his monastery - Peresvet and Oslyabya.

From Kolomna, where Dmitry’s army of thousands had gathered, at the end of August he gave the order to move south. The rapid march of Russian troops (about 200 km in 11 days) did not allow the enemy forces to unite.

On the night of August 7–8, having crossed the Don River from the left to the right bank along floating bridges made of logs and having destroyed the crossing, the Russians reached the Kulikovo Field. The Russian rear was covered by the river - a tactical maneuver that opened a new page in Russian military tactics. Prince Dmitry rather riskily cut off his possible retreat routes, but at the same time he covered his army from the flanks with rivers and deep ravines, making it difficult for the Horde cavalry to carry out outflanking maneuvers. Dictating his terms of battle to Mamai, the prince positioned the Russian troops in echelon: in front stood the Advanced Regiment (under the command of the Vsevolzh princes Dmitry and Vladimir), behind him was the Greater Foot Army (commander Timofey Velyaminov), the right and left flanks were covered by the cavalry regiments of the “right hand” "(commander - Kolomna thousand Mikula Velyaminova, brother of Timofey) and "left hand" (commander - Lithuanian prince Andrei Olgerdovich). Behind this main army stood a reserve - light cavalry (commander - Andrei's brother, Dmitry Olgerdovich). She was supposed to meet the Horde with arrows. In a dense oak grove, Dmitry ordered the reserve Zasadny floor to be located under the command of Dmitry’s cousin, Serpukhov prince Vladimir Andreevich, who after the battle received the nickname Brave, as well as an experienced military commander, boyar Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky. The Moscow prince tried to force the Horde, whose first line was always cavalry, and the second - infantry, to a frontal attack.

The battle began on the morning of September 8 with a duel of heroes. On the Russian side, Alexander Peresvet, a monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, was put up for the duel, before he was tonsured - a Bryansk (according to another version, Lyubech) boyar. His opponent turned out to be the Tatar hero Temir-Murza (Chelubey). The warriors simultaneously thrust their spears into each other: this foreshadowed great bloodshed and a long battle. As soon as Chelubey fell from the saddle, the Horde cavalry moved into battle and quickly crushed the Advanced Regiment. Further onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars in the center was delayed by the deployment of the Russian reserve. Mamai transferred the main blow to the left flank and began to press back the Russian regiments there. The situation was saved by the Ambush Regiment of Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andeevich, who emerged from the oak grove, struck the rear and flank of the Horde cavalry and decided the outcome of the battle.

It is believed that Mamaev’s army was defeated in four hours (if the battle lasted from eleven to two o’clock in the afternoon). Russian soldiers pursued its remnants to the Krasivaya Mecha River (50 km above the Kulikovo Field); The Horde Headquarters was also captured there. Mamai managed to escape; Jagiello, having learned of his defeat, also hastily turned back.

The losses of both sides in the Battle of Kulikovo were enormous. The dead (both Russians and Horde) were buried for 8 days. 12 Russian princes and 483 boyars (60% of the command staff of the Russian army) fell in the battle. Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who participated in the battle on the front line as part of the Big Regiment, was wounded during the battle, but survived and later received the nickname “Donskoy”.

The Battle of Kulikovo instilled confidence in the possibility of victory over the Horde. The defeat on the Kulikovo Field accelerated the process of political fragmentation of the Golden Horde into uluses. For two years after the victory on the Kulikovo field, Rus' did not pay tribute to the Horde, which marked the beginning of the liberation of the Russian people from the Horde yoke, the growth of their self-awareness and the self-awareness of other peoples who were under the yoke of the Horde, and strengthened the role of Moscow as the center of the unification of Russian lands into a single state.

The memory of the Battle of Kulikovo has been preserved in historical songs, epics, stories Zadonshchina, The Legend of the Massacre of Mamayev, etc.). Created in the 90s - 14th - first half of the 15th century. following the chronicle stories, the Legend of the Massacre of Mamayev is the most complete coverage of the events of September 1380. More than 100 copies of the Legend are known, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, which have survived in 4 main editions (Basic, Distributed, Chronicle and Cyprian). The widespread one contains a detailed account of the events of the Battle of Kulikovo, which are not found in other monuments, starting with the prehistory (the embassy of Zakhary Tyutchev to the Horde with gifts in order to prevent bloody events) and about the battle itself (participation in it of the Novgorod regiments, etc.). Only the Legend preserved information about the number of Mamai’s troops, descriptions of preparations for the campaign (“harnessing”) of Russian regiments, details of their route to the Kulikovo Field, features of the deployment of Russian troops, a list of princes and governors who took part in the battle.

The Cyprian edition highlights the role of Metropolitan Cyprian, in it the Lithuanian prince Jagiello is named as Mamai’s ally (as it actually was). The Legend contains a lot of didactic church literature: both in the story about the trip of Dmitry and his brother Vladimir to St. Sergei of Rodonezh for a blessing, and about the prayers of Dmitry’s wife Evdokia, by which the prince himself and their children were “saved,” and what was said in the mouth of the governor Dmitry Bobrok - Volynets included the words that “the cross is the main weapon”, and that the Moscow prince “carries out a good deed”, which is guided by God, and Mamai - darkness and evil, behind which stands the devil. This motif runs through all the lists of the Legend, in which Prince Dmitry is endowed with many positive characteristics (wisdom, courage, courage, military talent, courage, etc.).

The folklore basis of the Legend enhances the impression of the description of the battle, presenting an episode of single combat before the start of the battle between Peresvet and Chelubey, a picture of Dmitry dressing up in the clothes of a simple warrior and handing over his armor to the governor Mikhail Brenk, as well as the exploits of the governor, boyars, ordinary warriors (Yurka the shoemaker, etc. ). The Legend also contains poetics: a comparison of Russian warriors with falcons and gyrfalcons, a description of pictures of nature, episodes of farewells to soldiers leaving Moscow for the battle site with their wives.

In 1807, the Legend was used by the Russian playwright V.A. Ozerov when writing the tragedy Dmitry Donskoy.

The first monument to the heroes of the Kulikovo battle was the church on the Kulikovo field, assembled shortly after the battle from the oak trees of the Green Oak Forest, where the regiment of Prince Vladimir Andreevich was hidden in ambush. In Moscow, in honor of the events of 1380, the Church of All Saints on Kulichiki was erected (now located next to modern station metro station "Kitai-Gorod"), as well as the Mother of God Nativity Monastery, which in those days gave shelter to the widows and orphans of warriors who died in the Battle of Kulikovo. On the Red Hill of the Kulikovo Field in 1848, a 28-meter cast-iron column was built - a monument in honor of the victory of Dmitry Donskoy over the Golden Horde (architect A.P. Bryullov, brother of the painter). In 1913-1918, a temple was built on the Kulikovo field in the name of St. Sergei Radonezhsky.

The Battle of Kulikovo was also reflected in the paintings of O. Kiprensky - Prince Donskoy after the Battle of Kulikovo, Morning on the Kulikovo Field, M. Avilov - The Duel of Peresvet and Chelubey, etc. The theme of the glory of Russian weapons in the 14th century. represented by Yu. Shaporin's cantata On the Kulikovo field. The 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo was widely celebrated. In 2002, the Order “For Service to the Fatherland” was established in memory of St. V. book Dmitry Donskoy and Venerable Abbot Sergius of Radonezh. Attempts to prevent the declaration of the day of the Battle of Kulikovo as the day of glory of Russian weapons, which came in the 1990s from a group of Tatar historians who motivated their actions with the desire to prevent the formation of an “enemy image,” were categorically rejected by the President of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev, who emphasized that Russians and Tatars have long “gathered in a single Fatherland and they must mutually respect the pages of the history of the military glory of peoples.”

In Russian church history, the victory on the Kulikovo Field began to be celebrated along with the Christmas holiday. Holy Mother of God, celebrated annually on September 21 (September 8, old style).

Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva

Battle of Kulikovo, 1380

Battle of Kulikovo Field- battle between united Russian troops under the command of the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich and the troops of the Golden Horde, subordinate to the beklyarbek Mama. This battle was very important to history in many ways and was probably the largest battle of the fourteenth century and the first major Russian victory over the Mongols.

Mongol invasion of Rus'

In 1237, the Mongol troops led by Batu invaded the territory of the Ryazan principality. Three years later, most of Rus', with the exception of the Novgorod principality, lay in ruins. The Mongol invasion, according to historians, delayed the full development of Rus' for more than 2 centuries.

Unlike the Mongol campaigns in Europe, after the end of hostilities the Mongols took over most of Rus' and forced the local inhabitants to pay tribute. Novgorod, despite the fact that he managed to escape fate of Kyiv and Vladimir, was also forced to pay a large tribute Mongol khans. Novgorod was also subjected to numerous Mongol-Tatar raids over the course of 50 years.

The direction is starting to change

Opposition to the Mongols took a different direction in 1252, when Prince Andrey Yaroslavovich led his troops against the Tatars near Pereslavl-Zalessky. But the real result was achieved in 1285, when the prince Dmitry Aleksandrovich was able to drive the Tatars out of the Novgorod lands.

From 1269, Russian princes actually began to be recruited by the Mongols into their armies, and Russians fought on the side of some of the khans of the Golden Horde. The direction of the Russian struggle was still clearly defined, and as of 1270 the number of Russian troops had increased significantly. European influences became increasingly evident, and the combination of fighting styles contributed to the gradual success of the Russian army.

For example, horse archers were still a headache for many Western armies, with obvious examples being unsuccessful attempts of the Germans and Scandinavians to expand their possessions at the expense of the Novgorod territories. European armor, weapons and artillery also became an important component in subsequent clashes between the Russians and the Mongols.

At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the weapons and armor of the Mongols became significantly outdated, while Russian military power increased. Meaning Moscow as a city has grown significantly, and Kyiv - decreased. It was the Muscovites, under the leadership of several inspiring leaders, who liberated Rus' from the Mongol yoke.

In the Battle of Kulikovo, the united Russian troops under the command Dmitry Ivanovich Moskovsky faced a much larger Tatar force, led by Mamai. Allies of Mamaia, Grand Duke Oleg Ryazansky and the Grand Duke Jagiello of Lithuania, were late for the battle.

Kulikovo, 1380

The Battle of Kulikovo took place on September 8 on the Kulikovo Field near the Don River. The Russian troops formed the traditional three lines, with reserves remaining in the rear, and the elite cavalry of Vladimir Andreevich, Prince of Serpukhov (Dmitry's cousin), hidden in ambush. Mamai also lined up his troops. In the middle was the infantry, consisting of Genoese mercenaries. On the flanks and behind the infantry were the Horde cavalry and other mercenaries. Behind them was a reserve.

The number of warriors who took part in the battle is the subject of much debate. For example, according to some estimates, the Mongol forces numbered about 250,000 soldiers. A number of 100-120 thousand Mongols and 70 thousand Russians is considered acceptable, but a more reasonable figure is about 70 thousand Mongols and 36 thousand Russians. Be that as it may, these numbers are still huge for the armies of that time.

A.P. Bubnov “Morning on the Kulikovo Field”

Thick fog covered the Kulikovo field on the morning of September 8, 1380. The fog cleared only at 11 o'clock in the morning, after which both armies moved forward towards each other.

The battle began with a duel between a Russian monk Alexander Peresvet and a Tatar knight named Chelubey. Both killed each other with spears on the first pass, although Russian legend says that Peresvet did not fall from his horse, unlike Chelubey. After the duel, the battle began and both sides suffered heavy losses. Peresvet subsequently became a hero and often his image became an example of courage.

M. A. Avilov “Duel of Peresvet with Chelubey on the Kulikovo Field”

Genoese infantry, supported by Tatar cavalry, attacked the leading Russian regiment, but the onslaught was contained. After the first attack was repulsed, the remnants of the regiment returned to the main Russian army. The Horde cavalry launched a powerful frontal attack along the entire Russian front line. Dmitry himself fought in the front ranks and received several blows to the body and head and was thrown off his horse twice. Only European-style armor saved his life.

Despite the ferocity of the attacks, the Russians stood firm in their positions and forced Mamai to send his reserves against the Russian left flank, hoping to break them apart. Despite the fierce resistance of Russian soldiers, the Horde managed to break through the Russian lines. Having lost most of their soldiers, the left wing began to retreat. Reserves did not save the situation. At about 2 o'clock the Horde entered the Russian rear, bypassing the main forces of the Russian army. Russian troops were in real danger of defeat.

At this moment, from an ambush, the cavalry of Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky, led by Dmitry Bobrok- Prince Volynsky - attacked the Horde cavalry from the rear. This unexpected addition of fresh Russian troops radically changed the situation. From that moment on, Russian troops went on the offensive. Mamai's army fled, and its pursuit continued until late at night. The difficult battle lasted about four hours and ended in an absolute victory for the Russians. The troops of the Golden Horde were completely destroyed. Mamai fled to Crimea, where he was subsequently killed by his enemies. The reigns of the Horde passed to Tokhtamysh.

A high price was paid for the victory. Twelve princes and 483 boyars (the flower of the Russian army) were killed - this is 60% of all military leaders of the Russian army - plus a significant part of their armies. It took 7 days to honorably bury all the soldiers who fell in this battle.

After the battle, Dmitry Ivanovich received the nickname Donskoy, and then was canonized. The Battle of Kulikovo became one of the largest, if not the largest battle in the Middle Ages. More than one hundred thousand soldiers took part in it.

Aftermath of the battle

This victory marked the beginning of the end of Mongol rule in Rus', which officially ended in 1480 with a great Standing on the Ugra River. The Battle of Kulikovo was more important for the unification of Russian lands. According to one of the historians, the Russians went to the Kulikovo Field as citizens of various principalities, and returned as a united Russian people.

However, the fall of the Golden Horde was still far away. Just two years later, in 1382, Tokhtamysh attacked Rus' and Moscow was plundered and burned almost to the ground. Tokhtamysh had big success since the Russians simply could not recruit enough men to fight him. This suggests that the Russians have not yet been able to fully compensate for the losses suffered on the Kulikovo Field. However, already in 1386 Dmitry Donskoy was able to lead a solid army against Novgorod. The fatal conflict with Tamerlane prevented Tokhtamysh from achieving further success in Russia. In 1399, the Russians suffered a serious defeat from the emir's troops Edigeya in the battle on the Vorskla River.

In the end, infighting among the Mongols and the unification of the Russians led to the final defeat of the Golden Horde and the fall of its capital Kazan. One of the most powerful states that were part of the former Golden Horde - the Crimean Tatars - subsequently even took the side of the Russians in many wars.

It is not so much the Battle of Kulikovo itself that is of great importance, since the Mongols quickly restored what they had lost. Rather, it became a symbol of the fight against the Mongols and was a source of inspiration for all subsequent campaigns against them. This was the first large-scale battle with the Mongols in which the Russians won a complete victory. The Battle of Kulikovo destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Mongols in Rus', just like the Battle of Ain Jalut in the Middle East.

The site of the battle is marked by a temple-monument built according to the design of Alexei Shchusev. Warrior-monk Alexander Peresvet, who killed the Tatar knight Chelubey (also known as Temir-Mirza), but who himself died in this duel, became a hero after the battle.

Let's read something historical for the night. For example, "Battle of Kulikovo". Questions that have not been answered for 627 years... who is with me?

Surely the title of this article may seem paradoxical to most readers. What mysteries could there be in the Battle of Kulikovo? After all, for a long time everything has been clearly and clearly described in school and university textbooks, in reputable monographs on the history of military art, where even battle maps are given.

HOW MUCH AND WHY?

Alas, in fact, only one thing is known for certain - on September 8, 1380, Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich won a military victory. That's all. Although the modern researcher Shavyrin rightly noted: “Books dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo can cover the entire field on which it took place.” However, he also points out that “almost everything written goes back to three primary sources: the short Chronicle Tale, the poetic “Zadonshchina” and the rhetorical “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev.”

So, the first riddle. Mamai goes to war in Rus'. But is his army large? Academician Boris Rybakov claimed that more than 300 thousand people. His senior comrade, full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Mikhail Tikhomirov believed that 100-150 thousand. Historians Skrynnikov and Kuchkin limit themselves to 40-60 thousand. The minimum figure - 36 thousand - is given by their colleague Kirpichnikov.

Now the second question: what is the purpose of the hike? The overwhelming majority of Tsarist-Soviet-democratic historians answer unequivocally: Mamai wanted to become the second Batu, to punish the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich for many years of non-payment of tribute, to exterminate the Russian princes and replace them with Khan’s Baskaks, etc.

But where did Mamai get the strength for such a grandiose event, which neither Berke, nor Tokhta, nor Uzbek, nor other rulers of the Golden Horde dared to undertake? But Mamai in 1380 controlled at best only half of this feudal state, the other half was owned by his rival Tokhtamysh. Moreover, he was Genghisid (that is, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan) and a real khan, and Temnik Mamai was an impostor who seized the throne.

Elementary logic dictates that in such a situation Mamai should first deal with his rival in the Golden Horde, and only then deal with Russian affairs.

Yes, and Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich stopped paying tribute not because he became so strong, but precisely because of the “mess up in the Horde,” when it was simply unclear who to pay and who not. The rebellious temnik would have gained the upper hand in the Horde civil strife, and in a few weeks would have received from Moscow everything that was due. By the way, this happened immediately after the Battle of Kulikovo, only Dmitry paid Tokhtamysh in full with gold and silver.

Some researchers claim that Mamai in Rus' intended to feed his army, provide it with booty, hire new fighters with the stolen money and valuables, and then strike at Tokhtamysh. But Temnik was an experienced military leader and, of course, perfectly remembered the crushing defeat that the Horde army suffered in the Battle of Vozha in August 1378. And therefore he hardly doubted that he would have to fight the Russians seriously, that the success of the campaign was by no means guaranteed, even if all available forces were brought to it.

AN UNKNOWN ENEMY

Everything is relatively clear with the army of the Moscow prince. He managed to gather not only his army, but also the soldiers of the allied princes - Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersk and Starodub. The Lithuanian princes, Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich, also came to him with their squads. But participation in the battle of the Tver squad, as is sometimes stated, is more than doubtful.

Who was the opponent of the Moscow prince is still unknown. The Russian chronicler claimed that Mamai moved to Rus' “with all the strength of the Tatar and Polovtsian, and in addition he hired Besermen, and Armenians and Fryazis, Cherkassy and Yasy and Butas.”

The historian Egorov comments on this as follows: “It is difficult to say who in this list is meant by the Besermen, because in the chronicles this term refers to Muslims in general. However, it is possible that the chronicle indication may refer to Muslim detachments recruited in Azerbaijan, which has ties with the Golden Horde had a long-standing character. The same detachment of mercenaries was invited from Armenia. Among the Armenian feudal lords, mercenary activity was apparently quite widespread, which confirms the presence of a mercenary army from Armenians among the Seljuks.

Under the name of the chronicle Friazians, detachments of Italian city-colonies on the southern coast of Crimea and Tana at the mouth of the Don usually appear."

This last indication from the chronicle allowed the wild imagination of our historians and fiction writers to run wild. The “black Genoese infantry” wanders from book to book, marching in a dense phalanx along the Kulikovo field. However, in 1380, the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea region were at war with Mamai. Theoretically, the Venetians could have ended up on the Kulikovo Field. But only a few hundred of them lived in the city of Tana-Azana (Azov), along with their wives and children. And the Genoese, even if they were in an alliance with Mamai, would hardly be able to send several dozen people to his aid.

In turn, Armenian scientists have long ago stated: since no documents on the recruitment of fighters for Mamai were found in Armenia, our ancestors did not fight on the Kulikovo Field. But... If any of them ended up on the Don, then they were “from the Armenian community in Bulgar.”

However, other Tatar historians have also been arguing for some time now that the forefathers of the modern titular nation of Tatarstan did not fight on the Kulikovo Field. There is, however, another point of view. Thus, Professor Miftakhov, referring to the Code of Bulgarian Chronicles, writes that the Kazan Emir Azan sent Prince (Sardar) Saban with five thousand horsemen to Mamai. “During farewell to Sardar Saban, Emir Azan said: “It is better that you perish than the entire state.” After this, the Bulgar detachment set off to join the Temnik troops. Their meeting took place at the end of August 1380 “at the ruins of the old Khelek fortress.” .

It is said in the Bulgarian chronicles about... the artillery of Mamai. Namely: three cannons were placed near his tent, which were controlled by a master named Rail. However, the Russian horsemen attacked so quickly that the servants did not have time to open fire, and Rail himself was captured.

Yuri Loschits, the author of a 295-page book about Dmitry Donskoy, writes: “The battle of September 8, 1380 was not a battle of nations. It was a battle of the sons of the Russian people with that cosmopolitan forced or hired rabble who had no right to speak on behalf of any of the nations - neighbors of Rus'."

Of course, this is a very convenient formulation. But hasn’t too much “rabble” accumulated in the steppes between the Don and Volga? After all, it could have formed the largest - a fairly large gang, for the sake of the destruction of which there was hardly any need to gather the forces of almost all of Rus'.

WHERE SHOULD THE PRINCE BE?

The role of Dmitry Moskovsky in the Battle of Kulikovo is very strange. In “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev” the main role in the battle is given not to Dmitry, but to his cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky. But something else is unclear - according to all three sources, the Grand Duke actually refused to control the troops.

Dmitry supposedly, even before the battle, “removed the tsar’s burden from himself” and placed it on his beloved boyar Mikhail Andreevich Brenok, to whom he also handed over his horse. And in addition he ordered his red (“black”) banner to be “flying over him [Brenk].”

Not a single Russian prince behaved like this. On the contrary, the authority of princely power in the 9th-15th centuries in Rus' was so great that warriors often did not want to go to war without the prince. Therefore, if there was no adult prince, the prince was taken on the campaign. So, three-year-old Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was put on a horse and ordered to throw a small spear. The spear fell at the horse's feet, and this was the signal for the start of the battle. Why remember the 10th century, Dmitry himself at the beginning of his reign, at the age of 10-15, was repeatedly taken by Moscow boyars on campaigns.

Let's try to imagine the technique of changing the prince's appearance. This is not 1941, when a colonel or general took off his jacket and put on a private’s tunic. Expensive and durable armor was ideally tailored to the figure of a warrior. Putting on someone else's armor without appropriate adjustment or even alteration was both inconvenient and risky. Finally, the prince's horse was worth a fortune. He carried the prince for years and helped him out in battles. It was possible to mount someone else's horse in order to escape from the battlefield in case of defeat, but fighting on someone else's horse was simply dangerous.

So we will have to put aside the version about changing clothes, as well as about the tree being cut down, under which Dmitry Ivanovich found himself, without a single scratch. Analyzing the sources of the 14th-15th centuries, we can only conclude that Dmitry Donskoy did not directly participate in the battle. But why, we will probably never know.

CHAIN ​​OF UNCLEARANCE

No less interesting is the question of where the famous and bloody slaughter took place. According to drawings (maps) of the 18th-19th centuries, the Kulikovo field was a steppe “clearing” stretching for 100 km across the entire south of the present Tula region from west to east (from the upper reaches of the Snezhed River to the Don) and 20-25 km from north to south (from the upper reaches of the Upa to the upper reaches of Zushi).

The reader will ask, what about the monument to Russian soldiers standing on the Kulikovo Field? Everything is very simple.

Lived in early XIX century nobleman Nechaev - director of schools in the Tula province, freemason, Decembrist, member of the "Union of Welfare", close acquaintance of Ryleev. Like all Decembrists, he showed great interest in the struggle of the Russian people against the Horde.

In June 1820, the Tula governor Vasiliev raised the question of constructing a monument “marking the place where Russia was liberated and glorified in 1380.”

Needless to say, the site of the battle was found on the land of the wealthy landowner Nechaev. In 1821, in the journal “Bulletin of Europe,” Nechaev wrote: “The Kulikovo Field, according to historical legends, was located between the rivers Nepryadva, Don and Mecheya. Its northern part, adjacent to the confluence of the first two, still retains its ancient name among the inhabitants.” Further, Nechaev points to the toponyms preserved “in this region” - the village of Kulikovka, the village of Kulikovo, the Kulikovsky ravine, etc. In these places, according to Nechaev, “the most ancient weapons, reeds, swords, spears, arrows, as well as copper and silver crosses are dug up and more foldable. Previously, the farmer's plow tore off human bones." But the author believed that the “strongest evidence” (let’s note this) of his opinion was “the position of the Green Oak Forest, where the ambush that decided the bloody Battle of Kulikovo was hidden.” According to Nechaev, the remains of the oak grove still exist in the dachas of the village of Rozhestven, or Monastyrshchina, “lying at the very mouth of the Nepryadva.”

Alas, all of Nechaev’s arguments do not stand up to elementary criticism. For example, why is “Green Oak Forest” a proper name? And how many such oak forests are there on the vast territory of the Kulikov field?

It should be noted that when repelling raids Crimean Tatars Throughout the 16th century, dozens of battles and skirmishes took place in the Kulikovo Field area. Nevertheless, relatively few weapons were found on the Kulikovo field (in its broad sense). Moreover, the finds were almost evenly distributed both geographically and chronologically - from the 11th to the 17th centuries. (Cast iron cannonballs, lead bullets and a flintlock pistol cannot date back to 1380!) The most surprising thing is that on the Kulikovo Field, both in the narrow and broad sense, no group burials of warriors were found.

During the great battle, which ended in the complete defeat of Mamai’s army, there must inevitably be hundreds, or even thousands, of prisoners. In Russian chronicles, since the 10th century, their number is always given, and the most notable captives are named by name. But in this case, all our sources of the 14th-15th centuries are silent about them, and modern historians and fiction writers have overlooked this curious fact. So where did the Tatar prisoners go?

Here the following scheme seems most likely to me. Dmitry Ivanovich's army passed through the lands of the Ryazan principality to the battlefield without fighting and without interference. This could only be done with the consent of Oleg Ryazansky. Apparently, there was some kind of agreement between Oleg and Dmitry about joint actions against Mamai. And having fulfilled the terms of the agreement on his part, Prince Oleg counted on part of the military booty. But Dmitry did not want to share - after all, Oleg did not fight directly on the Kulikovo field. Having refused Oleg his legal demands, Dmitry Ivanovich hastily leaves for Moscow. He strives to appear in the city immediately after the news of the great victory, before Moscow learns of the huge losses. And therefore, the convoys coming from the Kulikovo field were abandoned to the mercy of fate. And Oleg is abandoned like an annoying petitioner crying out for justice.

And Oleg also had to feed his warriors and once again restore the devastated principality. And he ordered to rob the Moscow convoys passing through his land and to take away the full one taken on the Kulikovo field...

Indirectly, the fact of the robbery of the Russian army is confirmed by the news of German chronicles of the late XIV - early XV centuries, which say that the Lithuanians attacked the Russians and robbed them of all their loot. Considering that for German chroniclers there was no clear division between Rus' and Lithuania, by the name “Lithuanians” they could mean both the army of Prince Jagiello and Oleg Ivanovich.

So in the matter of prisoners there can be only two options. Either the Tatars on the Kulikovo field did not flee in panic from the battlefield, but retreated in relative order, or the prisoners were repulsed by the Ryazan or Lithuanians, and later released for a ransom. Both options did not suit either the chroniclers of the 14th-15th centuries or the historians of the 19th-20th centuries, and they simply omitted the issue with the prisoners.

By the way, the scheme that has been in existence for two centuries - Dmitry Donskoy broke the back of the Golden Horde, and Oleg Ryazan is a scoundrel and traitor - is, to put it mildly, far from reality. Could a state with a “broken backbone” force Rus' to pay tribute for another 100 years? Interesting moment. Dmitry Donskoy was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in June 1988, and Oleg Ryazansky began to be revered as a saint almost immediately after his death on June 5, 1402. And Oleg’s canonization took place “from below,” and not at the direction of the authorities, fortunately, the Ryazan princes in the 15th century had no time for him.

This article outlines only part of the many mysteries of the Kulikov field. To unravel them, historians and archaeologists will need to put in a lot of work. Although, unfortunately, it is unlikely that reliable answers will be found for most of them.

Alexander Borisovich Shirokorad - historian, publicist.