The Mongols in Russia

by Jeremiah Curtin

In 1239 the whole Russian land, if not yet under Mongols, looked on that doom as inevitable. There was such panic terror that men lost proper use of their faculties. All that interval from December, 1237, when Ryazan was destroyed, till December, 1240, was a time of destruction and captivity, and the end came only when there was nothing to destroy, and all the treasures of Russia were in Mongol hands.

For the people these three years were merged in one unit of time, filled with anguish, terror and despair. It might be said that they had lost the sense and the power to count seasons. That Russian land, which in the days of Yaroslav the Lawgiver and Monomach his grandson had so easily overcome its enemies, and which in the days of Big Nest, Monomach’s nephew, in spite of all its divisions and conflicts, still preserved some appearance of oneness, existed no longer.

On the San and the Dniester there was the same terror of Mongols as on the Desna and the Dnieper. From the north, from Vladimir, from Novgorod, no regiments appeared, and none were expected; no prince came with help, and no man was looking for him. The whole land was as silent as a grave or a desert. The Mongols had not captured Novgorod, but this was because they considered it as subject to Vladimir. They had been sated with bloodshed, and looked on the Vladimir region as thoroughly subjected. To avoid further evil, Novgorod had to connect itself absolutely with Vladimir, and with it carry the weight of the burden. Besides, the distant north was a country without attraction for Mongols. Beyond Novgorod lived the Chud people (Fins), whose lands extended to the shores of the Frozen Ocean. The Mongols did not consider that Novgorod could be the center of a region dangerous to their dominion, hence they left the old capital of Rurik uninjured. If they had had reason to punish Novgorod they would have razed it as they razed Ryazan and Vladimir.

The Kief campaign was undertaken by Batu on a scale that was enormous; with him went his brothers and relatives: Kuyuk, son of the Grand Khan, was there, and Mangu and Baidar, grandsons [[241]]of Jinghis Khan, also a multitude of famous commanders,—Burundai, Subotai and others. The whole army consisted of more than five hundred thousand men.

After finishing with Russia, Batu intended to pass into Hungary and destroy that country. He had sent a demand for obedience already, and a reprimand to the king for receiving Kotyan with his Polovtsi, whom Batu looked on as slaves who had fled from their master.

As soon as the Dnieper was frozen, the army passed over. The Mongol warriors were so numerous, the squeaking of their wagons so piercing, the neighing of their horses and the roaring of camels so deafening, that men in the city could not hear, as was declared, what they said to one another. First the attackers surrounded Kief; next they built a wooden wall; then they erected their engines and hurled immense stones at the city walls day and night without ceasing. The mother city was defended bravely by its citizens, but available warriors were few; for so short-sighted had the princes been that even when the enemy was on the march they had continued to struggle for succession. When the Mongols had made sufficient breaches in the walls, they rushed through and began a hand-to-hand struggle. The Kief men fought desperately. From morning till evening the battle raged, but toward night overwhelming numbers conquered, and the Mongols held the walls of the city. That night the Kief men made a new wall in front of the first one, even women and children assisting in building defenses, and next day the battle continued. From every house, church and monastery people came out, and fought to the death in all parts of the city. In the churches, multitudes had gathered, and from the weight of the people and their effects on roofs and in the galleries the walls fell. Many perished in hand-to-hand conflict; others were suffocated with smoke; but none surrendered, for all knew that but one fate awaited them.

For several days in succession the slaying of people and the destruction of buildings continued. The Vladimir Church fell; the Sophia Cathedral, built by Yaroslav the Lawgiver, endured best of any; the body of that church remained sound, and there is one uninjured part of the wall, on which is an image of the Virgin, preserved to the present. Of the Catacomb Monastery, the ancient church and walls were destroyed; of the Golden Gate, built by [[242]]Yaroslav, only ruins remained. The more violently the people defended the remnant of their city, and fought out their last hour, the more joyously did the destroyers carry on the destruction. They slew old men and children to the last one. If in other cities they had taken pleasure in general slaughter and devastation, they took tenfold more pleasure now. The strong places and the sanctuaries of a city were never overthrown with such fury, and never were the Mongols so relentless as in Kief, the city of churches. The destroyers did not spare even tombs; they forced them open, and with their heels crushed the skulls and broke the bones of the ancient princes. The havoc was so great that during the entire fourteenth century which followed, and in the fifteenth century, a large part of the city remained a desert covered with refuse. The remnants of stone buildings which had stood for centuries sank into the ground, dust drifted in over them, and then was concealed all those ruins. Of that Kief which, in the days both of Yaroslav the Lawgiver and Monomach, was compared by travelers with Tsargrad, there remained only the memory. It fell December, 1240, and was never renewed in its former magnificence, even to our day.

The defender of Kief, Daniel’s boyar, Dmitri, was brought half alive before Batu, who repeated these words of praise: “The Russians know well how to drink the cup of death.” He gave him his life, and took the hero with him in his campaign against Volynia and Galitch. The boyar, continuing to serve his prince, strove to lead the Khan from ruining Galitch. He advised him to go quickly and take vengeance on the King of Hungary for harboring Kotyan and his Polovtsi, saying: “It is time to go against the Hungarians; unless thou go now they will gather great forces and exclude thee forever. Their land is a strong one.” Thus spoke Dmitri to Batu, while, in mind, he was weeping over Galitch.

Batu was the more willing to hurry forward to Hungary, since he had learned that Michael of Chernigoff and Daniel of Galitch had gone to that kingdom. This, however, did not change his plan, though it may have hastened its execution, for the campaign against Galitch and Volynia was notable for swiftness. Batu on his way took through falsehood Ladyjin, a town which fought stubbornly and refused to yield. He promised the people in case they surrendered [[243]]to spare them and their town. At last they respected his word and surrendered. He slew every man to the last one. Kamenyets he passed, because its position seemed impregnable. Vladimir, the capital of Volynia, he took by assault and spared not one person. Galitch he treated in the same way.

Moving from Vladimir of Volynia along the Būg, the Mongols advanced only as far as Brest. There, near the edge of Lithuania, Batu halted. The great swampy forests troubled him and his warriors, and he resolved to turn back. As one more example of cruelty after so many, they destroyed Brest and slew all the people. Then they moved southward.