2019, vol. 7, no. 4. Galimov T.R., Mirgaleev I.M.

2019, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 652-662

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-4.652-662

   THE INTERPRETATION OF THE “GREAT STAND ON THE UGRA RIVER”
IN 1480

T.R. Galimov 1, I.M. Mirgaleev 2
1, 2 Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences
Kazan, Russian Federation
1 galimov_t_r@mail.ru, 2 dilnur1976@mail.ru

Abstract: Objective: Based on a systematic method of historical information and a partial historical reconstruction using narrative sources, the objective here is to cast doubt on the interpretation of the Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480 as the liberation of Rus’ian lands from dependence on the Horde.
Research materials: A number of synchronous annalistic sources and acts containing information about the event. This material obviously contradicts the Soviet interpretation of the issue, which has remained popular in modern historiography. In addition, modern domestic and foreign studies also contain voluminous materials that do not allow us to consider this event as a release from Horde.
Results and novelty of the research: The published sources do not allow us to consider the Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480 as an event that put an end to the dependence of the Rus’ian lands on the Horde. Several obvious circumstances provide evidence for the judgment advanced here. Firstly, the chronicles attribute the resolution of this conflict to divine power and describe this event in a way that does not allow us to consider it as a victory for either the Rus’ian or the Horde’s military forces. Secondly, the continued payment of tribute to the Tatar khanates indicates both the long-term dependence of the Rus’ian lands and the preservation of the internal unity of the post-Horde political space which continued to pose a threat to the Moscow state. The research results are shared by modern experts on the history of the Golden Horde and the Tatar Khanates.

Keywords: Great Stand on the Ugra River, Akhmat Khan, Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, Moscow State, Golden Horde, Tatar Khanates

For citation: Galimov T.R., Mirgaleev I.M. The Interpretation of the “Great Stand on the Ugra River” in 1480. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2019, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 652–662. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-4.652-662

REFERENCES

  1. Alekseev Yu.G. Osvobozhdenie Rusi ot ordynskogo iga [The Liberation of Rus’ from the Horde’s Yoke]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1989. 220 p. (In Russian)
  2. Bertold Spuler. Zolotaya Orda. Mongoly v Rossii [The Golden Horde. The Mongols in Russia]. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences Publ., 2016. 500 p. (In Russian)
  3. Halperin Ch. Tatarskoe igo: Obraz Mongolov v srednevekovoy Rossii [Tatar Yoke: Image of the Mongols in Medieval Russia]. Voronezh: Voronezh State University, 2012. 232 p. (In Russian)
  4. Gorskiy A.A. Moskva i Orda [Moscow and the Horde]. Moscow: Lomonosov, 2016. 296 p. (In Russian)
  5. Grigor’ev A.P. Vremya napisaniya “Yarlyka” Akhmata [The time of writing of Akhmat’s “Yarlik”]. Istoriografiya i istochnikovedenie istorii stran Azii i Afriki [Histo­riography and Source Studies of the History of the Countries of Asia and Africa]. Vol. X, Leningrad: Leningrad State University, 1987, pp. 28–89. (In Russian)
  6. Dukhovnye i dogovornye gramoty velikikh i udel’nykh knyazey XIV–XVI vv. [The Spiritual and Contractual Charters of the Great and Appanage Princes of the 14th–16th centuries]. Ed. L.V. Cherepnin, S.V. Bakhrushina. Moscow, Leningrad: Academy of Science USSR Publ., 1950. 585 p. (In Russian)
  7. Kurenkova E.A. Problema podlinnosti dokumentov diplomaticheskoy perepiski mezhdu Moskvoy i Ordoy v otsenke amerikanskoy istoriografii (na primere istoriko-filologicheskogo analiza “Yarlyka Akhmat-khana Ivanu III”, vypolnennogo Edvardom Kinanom) [The problem of the authenticity of documents of diplomatic correspondence between Moscow and the Horde in the assessment of American historiography (using the example of the historical and philological analysis of the “Yarlik of Akhmat Khan to Ivan III” by Edward Keenan)]. Servis plus. Vol. 4, 2010, pp. 9–14. (In Russian)
  8. Leont’ev A.K. «Stoyanie na Ugre» v 1480 godu. 500-letie sverzheniya ordynskogo iga [Standing on the Ugra River in 1480. 500th anniversary of the overthrow of the Horde’s yoke]. 600-letie Kulikovskoy bitvy. Tezisy dokladov i soobshcheniy yubileynoy nauchnoy konferentsii 8–10 oktyabrya 1980 g. [600th Anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo. Abstracts of reports and messages of the anniversary scientific conference on October 8–10, 1980]. Moscow, 1980, pp. 6–9. (In Russian)
  9. Lur’e Ya.S. Dve istorii Rusi XV veka: Rannie i pozdnie, nezavisimye i ofitsial’nye letopisi ob obrazovanii Moskovskogo gosudarstva [Two Histories of Rus’ of the fifteenth century: Early and Late, Independent and Official Annals about the Formation of the Muscovite State]. St. Petersburg: “Dmitriy Bulanin”, 1994. 240 p. (In Russian)
  10. Massalitina G.A. Programma natsional’nogo parka «Ugra» po izucheniyu «Velikogo Stoyaniya na Ugre» [The program of the national park “Ugra” on the studing the “Great Stand on the Ugra River”]. Priroda i istoriya Pougor’ya [Nature and History of the Ugra Region]. Kaluga, 2001, pp. 81–85. (In Russian)
  11. Massalitina G.A., Boldin I.V. Izuchenie i sokhranenie istoricheskogo naslediya sobytiy «Velikogo Stoyaniya na Ugre» [Studying and preserving the historical heritage of the events of the Great Stand on the Ugra River]. Trudy kafedry istorii Rossii s drevneyshikh vremen do XX veka [Proceedings of the Department of Russian History from Ancient Times to the twentieth century]. Ed. A.Yu. Dvornichenko. St. Petersburg: St. Pe­tersburg State University, 2006, pp. 131–136. (In Russian)
  12. Moiseev M.V. Posol’skie dary-«pominki» v kontekste vzaimootnosheniy Rossii s postordynskimi gosudarstvami: problemy izucheniya [Ambassadorial gifts – “comme­moration” in the context of relations between Russia and the post-Horde states: problems of study]. Ot Smuty k imperii. Novye otkrytiya v oblasti arkheologii i istorii Rossii XVI–XVIII vv. [From the Time of Troubles to the Empire. New Discoveries in the Field of Archaeology and History of Russia of the 16th–18th centuries] Moscow, Vologda: Drevnosti Severa, 2016, pp. 163–171. (In Russian)
  13. Moiseev M.V. Stepnye voyny ot Ugry do nogayskogo pogroma Kryma (1480–1522 gg.) [Steppe wars from the Ugra to the Nogai pogrom of Crimea (1480–1522)]. Istoriya voennogo dela: issledovaniya i istochniki. 2015 Special iss. V. Stoyanie na reke Ugre 1480–2015 [History of Warfare: Research and Sources. Special Issue: The Great Stand on the Ugra River 1480–1520]. Vol. 1, 2015, pp. 151–186. Available at: http://www.milhist.info/2015/11/23/moiseev_1 (last accessed: 20.11.2019). (In Russian)
  14. Povest’ o stoyanii na Ugre [The Tale of the Great Stand on the Ugra River]. Pamyatniki obshchestvennoy mysli Drevney Rusi. T.3: Moskovskaya Rus’ [Monuments of Social Thought of Ancient Rus’. Vol. 3: The Muscovite Rus’]. Moscow, 2010, pp. 46–49. (In Russian)
  15. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisey. Vol. 6. Sofiyskie letopisi [Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 6: Sofia Chronicles]. St. Petersburg: Eduard Prats Publ., 1853. 358 p. (In Old Russian)
  16. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisey. Vol. 20. Pt. 1. L’vovskie letopisi [Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles Vol. 20. Part 1: Lvov Chronicles]. St. Petersburg: M.A. Alek­sandrov Publ., 1910. 418 p. (In Old Russian)
  17. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisey. Vol. 24. Tipografskaja letopis’ [Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 24: Typographical Chronicle]. Petrograd, 1921. 272 p. (In Old Russian)
  18. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisey. Vol. 25. Moskovskij letopisnyj svod konca XV v. [Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 25: Moscow Annalistic Collection of the end of the fifteenth century]. Moscow; Leningrad: Academy of Science USSR Publ., 1949. 464 p. (In Old Russian)
  19. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisey. Vol. 26. Vologodsko-Permskaya letopis’ [Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 26: Vologda and Perm Chronicle]. Moscow, Leningrad: Academy of Science USSR Publ., 1959. 412 p. (In Old Russian)
  20. Trepavlov V.V. Dzhuchiev Ulus v XV–XVI vv.: inertsiya edinstva [The Ulus of Jochi in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: the inertia of unity]. Zolotoordynskoe nasledie [Golden Horde Heritage]. Vol. 1. Kazan, 2009, pp. 11–15. (In Russian)
  21. Halperin Ch.J. The Tatar Yoke. Columbus (Ohio), 1986. 231 p.
  22. Halperin Ch.J. The Tatar Yoke: The Image of Mongols in Medieval Russia. Corrected Edition. Bloomington, 2009. 248 p.
  23. Keenan E.I. The Yarlyk of Axmed-xan to Ivan III: a new reading. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics. Vol. 11. 1967, pp. 33–47.
  24. Ostrowski D. Muscovy and the Mongols: Cross-Cultural Influences on the Steppe Frontier, 1304–1589. Cambridge, 2002.

About the authors: Teymur R. Galimov – Cand. Sci. (History), Senior Research Fellow, Usmanov Center for Research on the Golden Horde and Tatar Khanates, Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7А, Baturin Str., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3052-8063. E-mail: galimov_t_r@mail.ru

Il’nur M. Mirgaleev – Cand. Sci. (History), Head of the Usmanov Center for Research on the Golden Horde and Tatar Khanates, Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Aca­demy of Sciences (7А, Baturin Str., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6013-6944, Researcher ID: J-9533-2017. E-mail: dilnur1976@mail.ru

Received  September 6, 2019   Accepted for publication  November 28, 2019
Published Online  December 29, 2019