129-635: The Russo-Kazan Wars were a series of short, intermittent wars fought between the Grand Principality of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan between 1437 and 1556. Most of these were wars of succession in Kazan, in which Muscovy intervened on behalf of the dynastic interests of its main ally, the Crimean Khanate . For most of the period, neither side sought to conquer the other, until Ivan
258-738: A connection with the hydronym Irtesh . The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama . Thus, a left tributary to the Kama was named the Aq Itil 'White Itil' which unites with the Kara Itil 'Black Itil' at the modern city of Ufa . The name Indyl ( Indɨl ) is used in the Cherkess language. In Asia the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su 'yellow water', but
387-561: A foreign witness, Sigismund von Herberstein . Belsky's huge army spent 20 days encamped on an island opposite Kazan, awaiting the arrival of Russian cavalrymen. Then news came that part of the cavalry had been defeated, and the vessels loaded with provisions had been captured by the Tatars. Although the army suffered from hunger, Belsky at once laid siege to the city and soon the Tatars sent their envoys proposing terms. Belsky accepted them and speedily returned to Moscow. Prince Belsky returned to
516-465: A large stretch of the Oka , from Serpukhov to the east of Kolomna, which gave it some protection from Tatar incursions. To the east, there was a dense forest zone which functioned as a natural barrier. Moscow also had access to the northern areas of Ryazan and direct access to Vladimir . It was also provided with a river network that facilitated trade. Yury ( r. 1303–1325 ) began his reign with
645-539: A length of about 160 kilometres (99 miles) and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans , flamingos , and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year. The Volga drains most of Western Russia . Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal ,
774-559: A loyal servant. To secure his position, Ivan began absorbing surrounding principalities. In particular, Ivan was credited by his grandson Dmitry Donskoy in his will with purchasing the principalities of Beloozero , Galich and Uglich . Ivan also developed Moscow to attract people and produce the resources needed to maintain his position, a policy reflected in his sobriquet, Kalita ( lit. ' moneybag ' ). As grand prince, Ivan collected tribute from not only his own possessions but also from other Russian princes. The khan at
903-552: A milestone defeat on the Tatars in 1380, which greatly increased Moscow's prestige. As the Golden Horde declined, its hegemony was increasingly challenged. Vasily I ( r. 1389–1425 ) focused on enlarging his principality, but was forced to resume paying tribute following a Tatar invasion. Vasily II ( r. 1425–1462 ) consolidated his control of Moscow after an internal struggle. His reign also saw
1032-604: A native bishop was elected as Metropolitan of Moscow, which was tantamount to a declaration of independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Constantinople (1448). Ivan III ( r. 1462–1505 ) succeeded his father and his reign has been considered to mark the end of the appanage period and the beginning of a new period in Russian history known as Muscovite Russia . At
1161-480: A puppet on the throne during the 1466–1469 Kazan succession crisis, the 1469 peace treaty meant 20 years of relative peace between Muscovy and an initially anti-Muscovite khan, Ibrahim . During the 1486–1487 succession dispute, however, Ivan managed to place the Crimean khan Meñli I Giray 's stepson Möxämmädämin (Muhammed Amin) on the throne of Kazan. When Ivan III died in 1505, his will still allocated tributes to
1290-498: A result, Ivan began to rule Russia as a unified monarchy. Having consolidated the core of Russia under his rule, Ivan III became the first Moscow ruler to adopt the titles of tsar and "Ruler of all Rus ' ". Ivan competed with his powerful northwestern rival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for control over some of the semi-independent former principalities of Kievan Rus' in the upper Dnieper and Donets river basins. Through
1419-457: A result, Simeon was able to temporarily halt the eastward expansion of Lithuania. He was also able to force Novgorod to make a treaty with Moscow, in which the city recognized Simeon as its prince and agreed to grant him additional tax revenues. Although the khan, Jani Beg , was prepared to support Simeon in his conflict with Lithuania, he was unwilling to provide unlimited support to Moscow, for fear that it would become too strong. He permitted
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#17327722936851548-610: A resurgence in influence, due to the monastic reform of St. Sergius of Radonezh . Educated by Metropolitan Alexis , Dmitri posed as a champion of Orthodoxy and managed to unite the warring principalities of Rus' in his struggle against the Horde. He challenged Khan's authority and defeated his commander Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). However, the victory did not bring any short-term benefits; Tokhtamysh in 1382 sacked Moscow hoping to reassert his vested authority over his vassal,
1677-407: A struggle against Tver for succession to the grand principality. According to traditional succession practices, the throne was to be passed to Andrey 's eldest cousin, Mikhail of Tver . As Daniel had died before he could become grand prince, his descendants were barred from the title. Yury decided to contest Mikhail's claim to the title, but ultimately the decision went to Toqta , the khan of
1806-452: A war with Lithuania , Vasily captured Smolensk in 1514, and a peace treaty in 1522 confirmed Moscow's gains. Vasily also advanced the Russian border in the east and supported the pro-Russian party in the Khanate of Kazan . The unification of Russia gave rise to a new political system characterized by the dominance of the grand prince, who viewed the country as his personal patrimony. The historian Sergey Platonov wrote: "The authority of
1935-537: Is always cool, silvery, in contrast to Novgorodian painting which inevitably tends towards the warm, the yellowish, the golden". Dionisius continued the traditions of Andrei Rublev and the Moscow school at the turn of the 16th century. The art of the miniature in illuminated manuscripts also continued to develop in Moscow, with manuscripts like the Khitrovo Gospels containing rich illustrations. After
2064-479: Is preserved in many Slavic languages, vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Bulgarian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Czech vláha 'dampness', Serbo-Croatian : vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Slovene vlaga 'moisture', Polish wilgoć 'moisture' and Macedonian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', among others. The Scythian name for the Volga was Rahā , literally meaning 'wetness'. This
2193-461: Is related to the Avestan name for a mythical stream, Raŋhā ( 𐬭𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬁 ), which means "wet" or "moisture", and was derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁res- or *h₁ers- ). This name can be compared to several Indo-Iranic terms, such as: The Scythian name survives in modern Moksha as Rav ( Рав ). The Greek author Herodotus recorded two more ancient Iranic names of
2322-848: Is the Ob – Irtysh river system. It belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea , being the longest river to flow into a closed basin. The source of the Volga lies in the village of Volgoverkhov'e in Tver Oblast . Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters (738 ft) above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers (200 mi) southeast of Saint Petersburg , the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh , Tver , Dubna , Rybinsk , Yaroslavl , Nizhny Novgorod , and Kazan . From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk , Tolyatti , Samara , Saratov and Volgograd , and discharges into
2451-488: Is widely regarded as the national river of Russia . The hypothetical old Russian state, the Rus' Khaganate , arose along the Volga c. 830 AD . Historically, the river served as an important meeting place of various Eurasian civilizations. The river flows in Russia through forests , forest steppes and steppes . Five of the ten largest cities of Russia , including the nation's capital, Moscow , are located in
2580-599: The Arab world . Khazars were replaced by Kipchaks , Kimeks and Mongols , who founded the Golden Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga. Later their empire divided into the Khanate of Kazan and Khanate of Astrakhan , both of which were conquered by the Russians in the course of the 16th century Russo-Kazan Wars . The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga echoes in national culture and literature, starting from
2709-740: The Battle of Stalingrad , possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, in which the Soviet Union and the German forces were deadlocked in a stalemate battle for access to the river. The Volga was (and still is) a vital transport route between central Russia and the Caspian Sea, which provides access to the oil fields of the Absheron Peninsula . Hitler planned to use access to the oil fields of Azerbaijan to fuel future German conquests. Apart from that, whoever held both sides of
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#17327722936852838-635: The Buzan river in the Astrakhan Oblast . Buzhan ( Persian : بوژان , romanized : Būzhān ; also known as Būzān ) is also a village in Nishapur , Iran . In late 8th century the Russian state Russkiy Kaganate is recorded in different Northern and Oriental sources. The Volga was one of the main rivers of the Rus' Khaganates culture. Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in
2967-456: The Golden Horde , who held suzerainty over the principalities and later confirmed Mikhail as the grand prince in 1305. In 1306, Yury established his authority over Ryazan with support from the khan as part of the Tatars' strategy to adjust the balance of power in the conflict between Moscow and Tver. Mikhail of Tver attempted to consolidate his power and was confirmed as the prince of Novgorod in 1307, but Yury retained control of Pereyaslavl and
3096-461: The Kulikovo cycle of works, stresses the unity of the Russian princes and describes the principalities of Moscow, Novgorod , and others as being part of the "Russian land". A new form of the name became common by the 15th century; the vernacular Rus was transformed into Ros(s)iya or Rus(s)iya , and borrowed from Greek : Ρωσία , romanized : Rosía or Latin : Russia . In
3225-615: The Oirats also used their own name, Ijil mörön or 'adaptation river'. Presently the Mari , another Uralic group, call the river Jul ( Юл ), meaning 'way' in Tatar . Formerly, they called the river Volgydo , a borrowing from Old East Slavic . The Volga is the longest river in Europe , and its catchment area is almost entirely inside Russia , though the longest river in Russia
3354-654: The Oka River , with revenues collected from neighbouring Ryazan . Since its formation in the 1430s and 1440s, the Khanate of Kazan had claimed tribute from peoples living on the (upper) Kama river and Vyatka river ( left-bank tributaries of the Volga ), as well as controlling access to the best routes across the Ural Mountains into western Siberia . To disrupt this control, Muscovy performed several raids into
3483-676: The Qasim Khanate , the Crimean Khanate , the Astrakhan Khanate , and the Khanate of Kazan, although the sums were smaller than those of previous Muscovite princes. Vasily III continued Ivan's pro-Crimean policies, and during their reigns, the Khanate of Kazan, the Principality of Moscow and the Crimea Khanate were allies, the latter being the senior partner of the other two. The boundary between Muscovy and Kazan
3612-475: The Volga , with their eyes fixed on Kazan, but autumn rains and rasputitsa ("quagmire season") hindered the progress of Russian forces. When frosty winter came, the Russian generals launched an invasion of the northern Vyatka Region. The campaign fell apart for lack of unity of purpose and military capability. The following year, the Russians set out from Kotelnich in the Vyatka Land . They sailed down
3741-793: The Volga–Don Canal , and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea , the Baltic Sea , the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea . High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats. The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat and other agricultural produce, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centers on
3870-630: The Vyatka River and the Kama towards the Volga, pillaging merchant vessels on their way. In response, Ibrahim mounted a counter-offensive, overran Vyatka, and forced local inhabitants into slavery for the duration of the campaign. In 1469, a much stronger army was raised and, sailing down the Volga and the Oka, linked up in Nizhny Novgorod . The Russians marched downstream and ravaged the neighbourhood of Kazan but did not dare to lay siege to
3999-461: The " gathering of the Russian lands " to increase the population and wealth under their rule. In the process, their interests clashed with the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania , whose subjects were predominantly East Slavic and Orthodox. Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania allied himself by marriage with Tver and undertook three expeditions against Moscow (1368, 1370, 1372) but was unable to take it. The main bone of contention between Moscow and Vilnius
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4128-431: The "facade of autocracy" and applied the term to later Muscovite history. Relations between Moscow and the Golden Horde varied at times. In the last two decades of the 13th century, Moscow gained the support of one of the rivaling Mongol statesmen, Nogai , against the principalities that were oriented towards the khan. After the restoration of unity in the Golden Horde in the early 14th century, Moscow generally enjoyed
4257-467: The 12th century Lay of Igor's Campaign . The Volga Boatman's Song is one of many songs devoted to the national river of Russia. Construction of Soviet Union -era dams often involved enforced resettlement of huge numbers of people, as well as destruction of their historical heritage. For instance, the town of Mologa was flooded for the purpose of constructing the Rybinsk Reservoir (then
4386-439: The 1430s, the Khanate of Kazan emerged on the mid-Volga, breaking away from the Golden Horde , and roughly comprising the area of former Volga Bulgaria. Charles J. Halperin (1987) noted: 'Muscovy's relations with the Kazan' khanate were complex, her aggressive intentions tempered by the lure of trade and her own limited military capability.' Both Kazan and Muscovy experienced wars of succession within their reigning families in
4515-403: The 1480s, the scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name Rosia ( Росиа ), and Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre "of Russian lordship" ( Росийскаго господства , Rosiyskago gospodstva ). In the 14th century, the grand princes of Moscow began to style themselves as the rulers of all Russia . During his consolidation of territories, Ivan III adopted
4644-481: The 15th and 16th century. The Muscovite War of Succession between Vasily Vasilyevich and his uncle Dmitry Shemyaka tore Muscovy apart from 1425 to 1453, while Ulugh Muhammad (Ulu-Mehmed), the first khan of Kazan, was murdered by his son Mäxmüd (Mahmutek), who then expelled his brothers Qasim and Yakub. For most of the decades-long intermittent conflict, neither the Kazanians sought to conquer Moscow, nor did
4773-684: The 8th centuries, the Alans settled in the Middle Volga region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the Pontic–Caspian steppe . The area around the Volga was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of Vyatichs and Buzhans , by Finno-Ugric , Scandinavian , Baltic , Hunnic and Turkic peoples ( Tatars , Kipchaks ) in the first millennium AD, replacing the Scythians . Furthermore,
4902-504: The Arsk Tower but, when the Russians started to celebrate their victory, ventured out and inflicted an excruciating defeat on them (June 25). Although it was the most brilliant Tatar victory in decades, Moxammat Amin – for some reason not clearly understood – resolved to sue for peace and paid homage to Ivan's successor, Vasily III of Russia . A new massacre of Russian merchants and envoys residing in Kazan took place in 1521. Vasily III
5031-504: The Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. The Volga has many tributaries , most importantly the Kama , the Oka , the Vetluga , and the Sura . The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometres (521,238 square miles) in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has
5160-780: The East Slavs. The Russian ethnicity in Western Russia and around the Volga river evolved to a very large extent, next to other tribes, out of the East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans and Vyatichis . The Vyatichis were originally concentrated on the Oka river. Furthermore, several localities in Russia are connected to the Slavic Buzhan tribe, like for example Sredniy Buzhan in the Orenburg Oblast , Buzan and
5289-542: The Grand Prince, and his own Mongol hegemony, killing 24,000 people. Nevertheless, Dmitri became a national hero. The memory of Kulikovo Field made the Russian population start believing in their ability to end Tatar domination and become a free people. In 1389, he passed the throne to his son Vasily I without bothering to obtain the Khan's sanction. Vasily I (1389–1425) continued the policies of his father. After
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5418-485: The Horde was attacked by Tamerlane , he desisted from paying tribute to the Khan but was forced to pursue a more conciliatory policy after Edigu 's incursion on Moscow in 1408. Married to the only daughter of the Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania , he attempted to avoid open conflicts with his powerful father-in-law, even when the latter annexed Smolensk. The peaceful years of his long reign were marked by
5547-542: The House of Moscow, represented by Vladimir of Serpukhov and his descendants, was firmly anchored to the Moscow principality. The situation changed with the ascension of Vasily I's successor, Vasily II (r. 1425–1462). Before long his uncle, Yuri of Zvenigorod , started to advance his claims to the throne and Monomakh's Cap . A bitter family conflict, the Muscovite War of Succession (1425–1453), erupted and rocked
5676-640: The Middle East met the Varangian people of the Nordic countries through trading. In the 8th and 9th centuries colonization also began from Kievan Rus' . Slavs from Kievan Rus' brought Christianity to the upper Volga, and a portion of non-Slavic local people adopted Christianity and gradually became East Slavs . The remainder of the Mari people migrated to the east far inland. In the course of several centuries
5805-402: The Moscow grand principality adopted the ideology of an Orthodox tsardom after the fall of Constantinople , which was incompatible with the recognition of suzerainty of the khan, and as a result, the grand prince began to declare the independence of Moscow in diplomatic relations with other countries. This process was complete during the reign of Ivan III. A distinct school of icon painting
5934-416: The Moscow princes took on the character of the authority of a lord of the manor over its land and people... The prince was not only the ruler of the country; he was also its owner". During the appanage period, princes and their retinues played a major administrative and social role in their principalities; however, with the rise of the grand principality of Moscow, the role of those princes were subordinated to
6063-500: The Muscovites make any attempt to conquer Kazan. The foreign policy of Ivan III centred on his alliance with the Crimean Khanate , and both Ivan III and Vasily III used their military might to uphold the dynastic interests of the Crimean khans in Kazan. The princes of Moscow contented themselves with maintaining a pro-Crimean khan on the Kazan throne whenever they could exploit a dynastic conflict. Although Ivan III failed to put
6192-529: The Novgorodian authorities attempted to turn to Lithuania again, Ivan's army marched against the city in 1478 and the city surrendered. Ivan imposed his direct rule on the city and abolished its system of government. Tver offered even less resistance, and when Ivan launched a new campaign against Tver in 1485, its prince fled to Lithuania. Ivan incorporated other appanages into the grand principality, while other princes acknowledged him as their overlord. As
6321-525: The Novgorodians launched a revolt against Mikhail's governors and sent an appeal to Yury, who was confirmed as prince in 1315. However, Mikhail was able to convince the khan to summon Yury and remove him from the political scene. Mikhail was able to establish his authority in Novgorod once again, but in 1317, Yury returned with a patent for the grand princely title, a Tatar army, and a Tatar wife, who
6450-516: The Old Russian fully vocalized accusative form Московь , Moskov' . Moscow is first mentioned under the year 1147 in the locative case ( na Moskvě ). The modern Russian form, Moskva , first appears in the 14th century. The oldest endonyms used in documents were Rus ( Russian : Русь ) and the "Russian land" ( Russian : Русская земля , romanized : Russkaya zemlya ). The 14th-century Zadonshchina , which belongs to
6579-534: The Russians used Qasim Tatars to contain him. After his advance was stalled near Murom , Safa Giray was forced to withdraw towards his own borders. These reverses undermined Safa Giray's authority in Kazan. A pro-Russian party, represented by Shahgali , gained enough popular support to usurp the throne more than once. In 1545, Ivan IV mounted an expedition to the Volga River, mainly in order to flex muscles and to show his support for pro-Russian factions. Little
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#17327722936856708-660: The Slavs assimilated the indigenous Finnic populations, such as the Merya and Meshchera peoples. The surviving peoples of Volga Finnic ethnicity include the Maris , Erzyas and Mokshas of the middle Volga. Also Khazar and Bulgar peoples inhabited the upper, middle and lower of the Volga River basin. Apart from the Huns , the earliest Turkic tribes arrived in the 7th century and assimilated some Finno-Ugric and Indo-European population on
6837-554: The Tatar capital because Qasim's widow had pledged to negotiate an advantageous peace with Ibrahim (her son). In the meantime, the units from Yaroslavl and Veliky Ustyug vainly attempted to win Vyatka to the Russian side. After negotiations were broken, the Tatars clashed with the Russians in two bloody but indecisive battles. In autumn 1469 Ivan III launched a third invasion of the khanate. The Russian commander, Prince Daniil Kholmsky , besieged Kazan, cut off water supplies, and compelled Ibrahim to surrender. Ivan failed to get Qasim on
6966-445: The Terrible decided to annex Kazan upon the successful 1552 siege , which was followed by a rebellion lasting until 1556 . Before it separated from the Golden Horde, the Kazan region was part of Volga Bulgaria (c. 630–1240) and then the Bulgar Ulus of the Golden Horde (c. 1240–1438). They adopted Islam in 921, several decades before the Christianisation of Kievan Rus' was boosted by the conversion of Volodimer in c. 988. In
7095-402: The Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the Cimmerians in the Caucasian Steppe and the Scythians in the Caspian Steppe. After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the Massagetae in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes. Between the 6th and
7224-417: The Volga from Uglich all the way to Kazan. It was used as the Russian place d'armes during the decisive campaign of 1552. On 16 June 1552 Ivan IV led a 150,000-strong Russian army from Moscow towards Kolomna . They routed the Crimean Tatars under Devlet Giray near Tula before turning to the east. The tsar pressed on towards Kazan, and the final siege of the Tatar capital commenced on 30 August. Under
7353-511: The Volga from Nizhny Novgorod and laid siege to Kazan on 18 May. The city fell to the Russians on 9 June. Ilham was sent in chains to Moscow before being imprisoned in Vologda , while Moxammat Amin was proclaimed the new khan. In reference to this victorious campaign, Ivan III proclaimed himself "Lord of Volga Bulgaria ". The last war of Ivan's reign was instigated by Ilham's widow, who married Moxammat Amin and persuaded him to assert his independence from Moscow in 1505. The rebellion broke out into
7482-534: The Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas , salt , and potash . The Volga Delta and the Caspian Sea are fishing grounds . A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet era . They are: The Volga– Oka region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints. During classical antiquity ,
7611-537: The Volga's drainage basin. Because the Volga drains into the Caspian Sea , which is an endorheic body of water, the Volga does not naturally connect to any of the world's oceans. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga River. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture – Russian literature and folklore often refer to it as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga). The Russian hydronym Volga ( Волга ) derives from Proto-Slavic * vòlga 'wetness, moisture', which
7740-417: The Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; Volgotanker , with over 200 petroleum tankers , is one of them. In the later Soviet era , up to the modern times, grain and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on
7869-450: The Volga: The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil . In modern Turkic languages , the Volga is known as İdel ( Идел ) in Tatar , Atăl ( Атӑл ) in Chuvash , Iźel in Bashkir , Edıl in Kazakh , and İdil in Turkish . The Turkic names go back to the ancient Turkic form " Etil / Ertil ", the origin and meaning of which are not clear. Perhaps this form has
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#17327722936857998-403: The Whites eastward, from the Middle Volga at Kazan to the Kama and eventually to Ufa on the Belaya . During the Civil War, Joseph Stalin ordered the imprisonment of several military specialists on a barge in the Volga and the sinking of a floating prison in which the officers perished. During World War II, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as Volgograd , witnessed
8127-419: The boyars of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to switch allegiance, but Jani Beg returned the boyars to Konstantin and confirmed him as prince. In 1352–1353, the Black Death reached Russia , which killed Simeon along with his sons. The ruling family of Moscow remained small as a result of the Black Death, and a new vertical pattern of princely succession from father to son was defined. Ivan's successors continued
8256-479: The city. At the beginning of Ivan's reign, the new Russian Orthodox metropolitan, Peter , moved his residence to Moscow in 1325. During Peter's tenure in Moscow, Ivan laid the foundation for the Dormition Cathedral , which was built using stone. Peter had intended to make Moscow his burial place, and therefore the religious center of the country, and he died in 1326. Peter was succeeded by Theognostus , who, like his predecessor, pursued policies that supported
8385-651: The continuing expansion to the east (annexation of Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal , 1392) and to the north (annexation of Vologda , Veliky Ustyug , and Perm of Vychegda , 1398). Nizhny Novgorod was given by the Khan of the Golden Horde as a reward for Muscovite's help against a rival. The reforms of St. Sergius triggered a cultural revival, exemplified by the icons and frescoes of the monk Andrei Rublev . Hundreds of monasteries were founded by disciples of St. Sergius in distant and inhospitable locations, including Beloozero and Solovki . Apart from their cultural functions, these monasteries were major landowners who could control
8514-418: The country during the whole reign. After Yuri died in 1432, the claims were taken up by his sons, Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka , who pursued their claims well into the 1450s. Although he was ousted from Moscow on several occasions, taken prisoner by Olug Moxammat of Kazan , and blinded in 1446, Vasily II eventually managed to triumph over his enemies and pass the throne to his son in 1462. At his urging,
8643-412: The declaration of de facto autocephaly by the Russian Church. Ivan III ( r. 1462–1505 ) absorbed nearly all of the Russian states and laid the foundations for a centralized state, leading to the end of the appanage era and the beginning of a period in Russian history known as Muscovite Russia . He also stopped paying tribute and his defeat of the Tatars in 1480 traditionally marks
8772-494: The defeat of the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo , heroic accounts of the battle were written with considerable artistry, including The Tale of the Battle with Mamai and Zadonshchina . The latter crafted a proto-national myth about the need for unification against foreign enemies: "Let us lay down our lives for the Russian land and the Christian faith". Muscovite Russia was culturally influenced by Slavic and Byzantine cultural elements. In Muscovite Russia, supernaturalism
8901-451: The defections of some princes, border skirmishes, and the long inconclusive Russo-Lithuanian Wars that ended only in 1503, Ivan III was able to push westward, and the Moscow state tripled in size under his rule. Vasily III ( r. 1505–1533 ) continued his father's policy of annexing the other appanages. He annexed Pskov and Ryazan in 1510 and 1521, respectively, completing the process of "gathering" (Great) Russian lands. During
9030-462: The development of modern Russians. Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic Mari (Мари) and Merya (Мäрӹ) people. Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was also inhabited by the Iranian people of the Sarmatians from 200 BC. Since ancient times, even before Rus' states developed, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic and Finnic peoples lived, but also Arab world of
9159-429: The economy of an adjacent region. They served as outposts of Moscow's influence in the neighbouring principalities and republics. Another factor responsible for the expansion of the Grand Principality of Moscow was its favourable dynastic situation, in which each sovereign was succeeded by his son, while rival principalities were plagued by dynastic strife and splintered into ever-smaller polities. The only lateral branch of
9288-568: The end of Tatar suzerainty. Vasily III ( r. 1505–1533 ) completed his father's policy of annexing the remaining appanages, and his son Ivan IV ( r. 1533–1584 ) was crowned as tsar in 1547, thereby officially proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia . The English names Moscow and Muscovy , for the city, the principality, and the river, are derived from post-classical Latin Moscovia , Muscovia , and ultimately from
9417-409: The end of the year. Mikhail was executed and Yury was made the grand prince. Little is known about Yury's reign as grand prince, but relations between Moscow and Tver soon improved and a treaty was concluded in 1319 between Yury and Dmitry of Tver . However, in 1321, a representative of the khan instructed Yury to march on Tver. The two forces met on the Volga and a battle was narrowly avoided. In
9546-480: The enemy after setting the fortress on fire. On 7 July 1445, the Russians and the Tatars clashed in the Battle of Suzdal near the walls of St. Euphemius Monastery . The battle was a resounding success for the Tatars, who took Vasily II prisoner. It took four months (July–November 1445) and an enormous ransom to recover the monarch from captivity. Ulugh Muhammad (Ulu-Mehmed) died in late 1445, murdered by his eldest son Mäxmüd of Kazan (Mahmutek). A conflict arose over
9675-479: The favor of the khan until 1317 and 1322–1327. For the following thirty years, when relations between the two parties improved, Moscow was able to achieve sufficient economic and political potential. Further attempts to deprive its rulers of the status of grand prince were unsuccessful after the Horde sank into internecine war and proved to be fruitless during the reign of a relatively powerful khan such as Mamai , whereas Tokhtamysh had no other choice but to recognize
9804-455: The grand prince and the emerging state apparatus. Traditional institutions like the veche were abolished, and appanage princes were incorporated into the boyar class. As a result, they became increasingly part of the service class . Some historians have argued that a ruling class, which included the grand prince and leading boyars, governed the country by consultation and consensus-building. Nancy Shields Kollmann in particular called it
9933-661: The grand prince to enjoy the traditional rights of the throne and to maintain his nominal authority over other princes, but he interfered in Moscow's relations with Suzdal, supported anti-Muscovite elements in Ryazan, and contributed to Tver's fragmentation. When Jani Beg first occupied the throne, Simeon's cousin Konstantin took advantage of the power struggle in Sarai and took control of Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets . Simeon attempted to dislodge his cousin, and in 1343, he convinced
10062-430: The grand princely title, Özbeg had approved his father's will in 1339, indicating that he supported Simeon's succession to the grand princely throne. Simeon received the patent a few months later. As a result, the princes of Moscow continued to hold the title almost uninterruptedly. At the start of Simeon's reign, the principality of Bryansk returned to Moscow's sphere of influence after the pro-Moscow Dmitry Romanovich
10191-420: The growing power of the Golden Horde. The power of the Horde over Moscow was greatly limited during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy , who gained recognition of the grand principality of Vladimir as a hereditary possession of the princes of Moscow; while the Horde continued to collect tribute, it could no longer have a serious impact on the internal structure of Russia. During the reigns of Vasily II and Ivan III ,
10320-572: The khan of Kazan, Ulugh Muhammad , defeated Muscovite troops in the Battle of Belyov . In 1439, Ulugh advanced on Moscow with a large army. Vasily II of Moscow fled from his capital across the Volga River . Tatars devastated the outskirts of Moscow for 10 days and on their way back to Kazan burned Kolomna ; they also took many captives. The campaign of 1445 was disastrous for Muscovy and had major repercussions in Russian politics. Hostilities broke out when khan Ulugh Muhammad (Ulu-Mehmed) took
10449-547: The khan's brother-in-law was killed in action and the horde retreated. Ivan's death prevented hostilities from being renewed until May 1506, when Prince Fyodor Belsky led Russian forces against Kazan. After the Tatar cavalry attacked his rear, many Russians took flight or drowned in the Foul Lake (22 May). Prince Vasily Kholmsky was sent to relieve Belsky and defeated the khan on Arsk Field on June 22. Moxammat Amin withdrew to
10578-577: The lakes of the North ( Lake Ladoga , Lake Onega ), Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea are possible through the Volga–Baltic Waterway ; and commerce with Moscow has been realised by the Moscow Canal connecting the Volga and the Moskva River . This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of 290 by 30 metres (951 ft × 98 ft) on
10707-612: The largest artificial lake in the world). The construction of the Uglich Reservoir caused the flooding of several monasteries with buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. In such cases the ecological and cultural damage often outbalanced any economic advantage. During the Russian Civil War , both sides fielded warships on the Volga. In 1918, the Red Volga Flotilla participated in driving
10836-402: The late 13th century. The first prince of Moscow was Daniel ( r. 1263–1303 ), the youngest son of Aleksandr Nevsky , and he was given Moscow as an otchina , where he established a local branch of Rurikid princes. Daniel is mentioned under the year 1282 as taking part in a feudal war between his two older brothers. The 16th-century Book of Royal Degrees says that Daniel
10965-547: The legacy of Kievan Rus' , which led to conflicts with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . The Russian state was later also known in Western Europe as Muscovy under Polish–Lithuanian influence, and the use of both names persisted until the early 18th century. Moscow is first mentioned in chronicles under the year 1147, as part of the principality of Rostov-Suzdal . The importance of Moscow greatly increased during
11094-541: The longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia , it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea . The Volga has a length of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and a catchment area of 1,360,000 km (530,000 sq mi). It is also Europe's largest river in terms of average discharge at delta – between 8,000 m /s (280,000 cu ft/s) and 8,500 m /s (300,000 cu ft/s) – and of drainage basin . It
11223-572: The middle and lower Volga. The Turkic Christian Chuvash and Muslim Volga Tatars are descendants of the population of medieval Volga Bulgaria . Another Turkic group, the Nogais , formerly inhabited the lower Volga steppes. The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans . Catherine the Great had issued a manifesto in 1763 inviting all foreigners to come and populate
11352-583: The movements of peoples from Asia to Europe . A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama joins the Volga, while Khazaria controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as Atil , Saqsin , or Sarai were among the largest in the medieval world. The river served as an important trade route connecting Scandinavia , Finnic areas with the various Slavic tribes and Turkic, Germanic , Finnic and other people in Old Rus' , and Volga Bulgaria with Khazaria , Persia and
11481-478: The open on Saint John's Day, when the Tatars massacred Russian merchants and envoys present at the annual Kazan Fair. A huge army of the Kazan and Nogai Tatars then advanced towards Nizhny Novgorod and besieged the city. The affair was decided by 300 Lithuanian archers, who had been captured by Russians in the Battle of Vedrosha and lived in Nizhny in captivity. They managed to put the Tatar vanguard into disarray:
11610-529: The other side from the banks of the river. In these battles, the Soviet Union was the main offensive side, while the German troops used a more defensive stance, though much of the fighting was close quarters combat , with no clear offensive or defensive side. Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. Numerous were the Eastern Slavic Vyatchi tribes which took a decisive role in
11739-494: The principalities of Vladimir and Novgorod between Aleksandr of Suzdal and Ivan, and upon Aleksandr's death in 1331, Ivan became the sole grand prince. Aleksandr of Tver eventually returned to Tver and was given a full pardon and reinstated as prince by the khan. However, Aleksandr was soon recalled to Sarai in 1339, where he was executed. The death of Aleksandr marked the end of the struggle between Moscow and Tver, and Ivan's nephew-in-law, Konstantin , continued to rule Tver as
11868-634: The region, offering them numerous incentives to do so. This was partly to develop the region but also to provide a buffer zone between the Russians and the Mongols to the east. Because of conditions in German territories, Germans responded in the largest numbers. Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during
11997-588: The region. In revenge, Ivan III sent his generals to sack the neighbourhood of Kazan. At that time Ibrahim died and was succeeded by Ilham , whilst his half-brother Moxammat Amin fled to Moscow. Ivan III allowed him to settle in Kashira and pledged his support for Moxammat's claims to the Tatar throne. In 1484 Russia placed Moxammat Amin on the throne, but within a year Ilham regained power. In 1487 Ivan again found it prudent to intervene in Kazan affairs and replace Ilham with Moxammat Amin. Prince Kholmsky sailed down
12126-497: The rise of Moscow. During the first four years of his tenure, the Dormition Cathedral was completed and an additional four stone churches were constructed. Theognostus also proceeded with the canonization of Peter in 1339, which helped to increase Moscow's prestige. Simeon ( r. 1340–1353 ) succeeded his father as prince upon the latter's death. Although Simeon had to contend with three rival princes for
12255-561: The river could move forces across the river, to defeat the enemy's fortifications beyond the river. By taking the river, Hitler's Germany would have been able to move supplies , guns , and men into the northern part of Russia. At the same time, Germany could permanently deny this transport route by the Soviet Union, hampering its access to oil and to supplies via the Persian Corridor . For this reason, many amphibious military assaults were brought about in an attempt to remove
12384-893: The river played a vital role in the commerce of the Byzantine people . The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha , which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains. Between 2nd and 5th centuries Baltic people were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from Sozh River till today's Moscow and covered much of today's Central Russia and intermingled with
12513-462: The second half of the 12th century, and it was converted into a fortified gorod (stronghold) in the 1150s. On the death of Vsevolod III in 1212, Moscow appears to have been passed to his son Yury , who succeeded his father as the grand prince of Vladimir . During the Mongol invasions of 1237–1238, Moscow was sacked following the destruction of Ryazan . The city is not mentioned again until
12642-463: The start of Ivan's reign was content with allowing the Muscovite prince to enjoy undisputed supremacy. As a result, Ivan was able to use the funds he acquired to develop Moscow. He also had access to Novgorod's wealth, which helped him to pay the tribute; however, relations with Novgorod worsened following the election of a new archbishop in 1330, which paved the way for a pro-Lithuanian faction in
12771-418: The start of Ivan's reign, Moscow was already the political and religious center of Russia, but Ivan vastly expanded the domain of the grand prince with the " gathering of the Russian lands ". After Novgorod's boyar class turned to Lithuania for support, Ivan's army defeated the Novgorodian army in 1471, after which Ivan took an oath of allegiance from Novgorod, but left its system of government in place. After
12900-415: The strategic fortress of Nizhny Novgorod and invaded Muscovy. Vasily II mustered an army and defeated the Tatars near Murom and Gorokhovets . Thinking the war over, he disbanded his forces and returned to Moscow in triumph, only to learn that the Tatars had besieged Nizhny Novgorod again. A new army was mustered and marched towards Suzdal , where they met the Russian generals who had surrendered Nizhny to
13029-504: The subject of the longest poem in the Russian language, Mikhail Kheraskov 's epic Rossiada (1771–1779). After the fall of Kazan, a guerrilla uprising known as the Kazan rebellion or Kazan War (1552–1556) started in the region, lasting several years until its final suppression in 1556. The Tsar responded with a policy of Christianization and Russification of his Tatar subjects and other indigenous peoples, an approach not reversed until
13158-538: The supervision of Prince Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky , the Russians used ram weapons, a battery-tower , mines , and 150 cannons. The Russians had the advantage of efficient military engineers , such as Ivan Vyrodkov , Nemchin Erazm ("Rozmysl") from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the English engineer Butler. The besiegers blocked the city's water supply and breached the walls before the final storming on 2 October led to
13287-519: The supremacy of Moscow over the Russian principalities. The traditional divide and conquer strategy of the Mongols failed, and the following period is characterized by a lack of support from the Horde. Although Moscow recognized the khan as its suzerain in the early years of the "Tatar yoke", despite certain acts of resistance and disobedience, it refused to acknowledge the khan's suzerainty in 1374–1380, 1396–1411, 1414–1416 and 1417–1419, even despite
13416-428: The taking of the city of Kazan, and the razing of its fortifications. The conquest of Kazan had as its primary effect the assertion of Moscow's control over the Middle Volga . The Bashkirs accepted Ivan IV's authority two years later. The tsar celebrated his victory over Kazan by building several churches with oriental features, most famously Saint Basil's Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. The siege of Kazan forms
13545-428: The throne of Kazan, and had to recognise Ibrahim as the legitimate successor in a 1469 peace treaty. Under the terms of the peace settlement, the Tatars set free all the ethnic Christian Russians they had enslaved in the forty previous years. Qasim died soon after. The Vyatka Region remained the principal bone of contention between Kazan and Moscow for decades to come. In 1478, shortly before his death, Ibrahim devastated
13674-421: The throne of Kazan, and in 1447, Mäxmüd expelled two brothers named Qasim (Kasim) and Iakub, who fled to Muscovy and offered to aid Vasily in his bid for the throne against Dmitry Shemyaka. It was in part due to these renegade Kazan princes' help that Vasily was able to regain the Muscovite throne. In 1452, Vasily would grant the former a small fiefdom known as the Qasim Khanate , centred on the town of Kasimov on
13803-412: The time of Catherine the Great (reigned 1762–1796). Grand Principality of Moscow The Principality of Moscow ( Russian : Московское княжество ), from 1363 the Grand Principality of Moscow ( Russian : Великое княжество Московское ), was a medieval Russian principality . Its capital was the city of Moscow . Moscow became a separate principality when Daniel ( r. 1263–1303 ),
13932-401: The title and was later made grand prince in 1318 by the khan of the Golden Horde , who held suzerainty over the princes. However, Yury lost the title four years later. Ivan I ( r. 1325–1340 ) won back the title of grand prince and was able to collect tribute for the khan from other Russian princes, which increased Moscow's wealth. The seat of the Russian Orthodox Church
14061-498: The title of sovereign ( gosudar ) of all Russia. After rejecting Mongol suzerainty, he also styled himself as autocrat ( samoderzhets ). In his foreign correspondence, he adopted the title of tsar and rejected the offer of kingship by the Holy Roman Emperor ; however, it would not be until 1547 that the title of tsar became official with the coronation of his grandson, Ivan IV . Ivan III also laid claim to
14190-551: The treaty, Dmitry agreed to refrain from making himself the grand prince and he paid the tribute owed to the Tatars. Yury was summoned to Novgorod and did not pay the tribute to the khan, leading to Dmitry to go to Sarai and receive the patent for the grand princely title in 1322. Yury was then summoned by Özbeg, and on his way to Sarai, Dmitry's brother Aleksandr robbed him in the Rzhev area and forced him to flee to Pskov . Ivan I ( r. 1325–1340 ) became prince after Yury
14319-434: The upper Kama and Vyatka river regions between 1458 and 1462. A Kazan counter-raid at outposts near Ustyug failed. One of the Kazan tributaries that the Muscovites sought to take control of was Great Perm . The death of Mäxmüd of Kazan in 1466 or 1467 triggered a war of succession in the khanate between his son Ibrahim and his brother Qasim , the vassal of Ivan III (succeeded Vasily in 1462). Ivan's army sailed down
14448-451: The walls of Kazan in July 1530. The khan had fortified his capital and built a new wall, yet the Russians set the city ablaze, massacring their rivals utterly (according to Rus' chronicles) and causing their enemy, Safa Giray , to withdraw to Arsk. The Tatars sued for peace, promising to accept any khan appointed from Moscow. The tsar put Shahgali's younger brother, Canghali , on the throne. He
14577-484: The years of Joseph Stalin 's industrialization , is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) ship locks , so that vessels of considerable dimensions can travel from the Caspian Sea almost to the upstream end of the river. Connections with the river Don and the Black Sea are possible through the Volga–Don Canal . Connections with
14706-419: The youngest son of Alexander Nevsky , received the city and surrounding area as an appanage on his father's death. By the end of the 13th century, Moscow was one of the leading principalities within the grand principality of Vladimir , alongside Tver . A struggle between the princes of Moscow and Tver began after Mikhail of Tver became the grand prince in 1304. Yury ( r. 1303–1325 ) contested
14835-414: Was a fundamental part of daily life. Volga River 8,103.078 m /s (286,157.5 cu ft/s) 2,806.467 m /s (99,109.4 cu ft/s) Yaroslavl (Basin size: 153,657.8 km (59,327.6 sq mi): 1,008.277 m /s (35,607.0 cu ft/s) The Volga ( Russian : Волга , pronounced [ˈvoɫɡə] ) is the longest river in Europe and
14964-479: Was a minor, border skirmishes continued unabated, but the leaders of both powers were reluctant to commit their troops to open conflicts. In 1536, the Russians and Tatars were on the brink of a new war and met near Lyskovo , but the battle was averted. Over the following years, the Crimean khan constructed an offensive alliance with Safa Giray of Kazan , his relative. When Safa Giray invaded Muscovy in December 1540,
15093-576: Was able to gain control of Nizhny Novgorod . Mikhail marched against Moscow in 1308, but the Muscovites were able to stand their ground. Mikhail also failed to win the support of the Church, and when he launched an expedition to Nizhny Novgorod, his army was stopped by Metropolitan Peter in Vladimir. After Toqta died in 1312, Mikhail visited Sarai to renew his patent and pay respects to the new khan, Özbeg , staying there for two years. In his absence,
15222-474: Was achieved during the campaign of 1547-48 and the story was much the same for 1549-50. In 1551, detailed schemes for the eventual conquest of Kazan started to be aired. The tsar sent his envoy to the Nogai Horde and they promised to maintain neutrality during the impending war. The Ar begs and Udmurts submitted to Russian authority as well. In 1551, the wooden fort of Sviyazhsk was transported down
15351-439: Was also moved to Moscow, which later gave it the status as the spiritual center. Ivan I defeated Tver and secured the grand princely title for his sons Simeon ( r. 1340–1353 ) and Ivan II ( r. 1353–1359 ). Following the death of Ivan II, the title was temporarily lost until Dmitry ( r. 1359–1389 ) regained it, after which Moscow was elevated to a grand principality . He also inflicted
15480-478: Was formed in Moscow in the second half of the 14th century, and would be led by Andrei Rublev , one of the most celebrated Russian icon painters. Among his most notable works is The Trinity , which dates to the early 15th century. The first original Russian school, the Suzdal school, was merged with the Moscow school in the early 15th century. Igor Grabar said it could be distinguished by "a general tone, which
15609-516: Was given Moscow on his father's death in 1263. The size of the original territory of the Moscow principality is not known, but it likely encompassed the basin of the upper Moskva River , stretching approximately between the eastern influx of the Gzhelka and the western influx of the Ruza . The northeast of the territory consisted of the basin of the upper Klyazma . By the turn of the century, Moscow
15738-404: Was murdered by Dmitry of Tver , while the title of grand prince went to Aleksandr of Tver . After the residents of Tver launched a revolt against Tatar rule in 1327, Özbeg Khan dispatched a punitive force led by Ivan and Aleksandr of Suzdal , causing Aleksandr of Tver to flee to Lithuania. Afterwards, Ivan presented himself before Özbeg and was given the title of grand prince. Özbeg divided
15867-445: Was murdered by the anti-Russian faction in 1535 . Rus' chronicles record about forty attacks of Kazan khans on northeastern Rus' territories (mainly the regions of Nizhniy Novgorod , Murom , Vyatka, Vladimir , Kostroma , Galich ) in the first half of the 16th century. Half of Kazan raids occurred in the 1530s and 1540s. Besides 1521, most ruinous Kazan attacks occurred in 1522, 1533, 1537, 1538, 1539, 1540, and 1541. While Ivan IV
15996-431: Was near Nizhny Novgorod , about halfway between the two cities. The land east of Nizhny Novgorod was fairly difficult. Whenever the Tatars attacked, they would first hit Nizhny Novgorod and then move on Murom, Ryazan, and other places, only twice approaching Moscow. When the Rus' attacked, they would usually send two armies, one down the Volga, and one over land. As Muscovy grew stronger, fighting shifted eastward. In 1437,
16125-413: Was once again installed as prince. As a demonstration of his political sympathies, Dmitry had his daughter married to Simeon's younger brother Ivan . In 1352, Simeon marched into the neighboring principality of Smolensk , located to the west of Moscow, and was able to extend his authority there with the removal of the pro-Lithuanian prince, who was likely replaced with either Dmitry's son or nephew. As
16254-587: Was one of the leading principalities within Vladimir-Suzdal . Daniel defeated Ryazan in 1301, after which Kolomna and Serpukhov were incorporated into the Moscow principality. Pereyaslavl was also temporarily annexed to Moscow, and after Daniel's death, his sons seized Mozhaysk in 1304. At this point, the territory of the principality had increased almost three-fold and included the entire Moskva River along with its tributaries , allowing Moscow to become self-sufficient. Its southern border included
16383-467: Was so enraged that he forbade his subjects to visit the Kazan Fair again. Instead, the famous Makariev Fair was inaugurated downstream from Nizhny Novgorod, an establishment which undermined the economical prosperity of Kazan, thus contributing to its eventual downfall. In 1524, Prince Ivan Belsky led the 150,000-strong Russian army against the Tatar capital. This campaign is described in detail by
16512-465: Was the large city of Smolensk . In the 1350s, the country and the royal family were hit by the Black Death . Dmitry Ivanovich was aged nine when his parents died and the title of Grand Duke slipped into the hands of his distant relative, Dmitry of Suzdal . Surrounded by Lithuanians and Muslim nomads, the ruler of Moscow cultivated an alliance with the Rus' Orthodox Church , which experienced
16641-399: Was the sister of the khan. Kavgady, the chief representative of the khan, sent his ambassadors to Tver to scare Mikhail into submission, but Mikhail's army proceeded to defeat Yury's army in December 1317. In early 1318, the two parties met on the Volga for another battle, but they reached an agreement. Kavgady and Yury laid their accusations against Mikhail and a formal trial took place at
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