The Impact of Mongol Rule on Russia - Essay Example

The Impact of Mongol Rule on Russia Introduction The history of Russia has been plagued with tumultuous wars for power and a forcible, as opposed to an evolved, structure of change. The constant struggle for power and control by the Russian princes from various cities like Kiev, Vladimir, Suzdal, and Pskov has been the most fundamental prehistoric feature of the Russian Empire. The decision of Yaroslav in 1054, before his death, to assign princedoms to his sons set the stage for the Keiven Russia that ruled the most gloried states for a remarkable two hundred years in history. It was this advent of the Mongols that changed the course of history for the Russian Empire (Charles). The first entrance of Mongols into the Keivan Russia was marked in 1219 in attempt to initiate a move against the Kipchaks and send a request for peace to the Mongol princes. Based on the distrust of Russian princes, the Batu Khan’s march from Mongolia initiated which resulted in a sequenced gradual downfall of Russian principalities. The army of 200,000 men destroyed the physical property in Russian and massive manslaughter took place. This demise of the Russian Empire, owed to the miscalculations and distrust of the princes, changed the political, economic and social fabric of the Empire. It marked a beginning of the metamorphosis and a transition of the Russian power and control that was never going to be revived again and the impact of which was deeply held within the Russian structure of politics and economics (John). The Impact of Mongol Rule on Russia Since the Mongols ruled Russia for a period of two hundred years and the Mongolian empire continued to grow in size and influence, the Russian inhabitants felt the deep impact. The rule not only transformed the Russian systems over the course of time but left a deep reflection of its ideology, culture and heritage which can be observed till date (Cherniavsk). The most important impact the Mongols had was on the Orthodox Church. Although the Mongols had considerable power to execute on the Orthodox Church prior to the invasion, the impact of Mongol onslaught on Russian churches was devastating. Churches and monasteries were destroyed, looted and inherent killed.. The town assemblies and princes were humiliated. However, this also brought with it some fundamental significance allotted to these institutions. The impact extended to the social and spiritual dimensions of society whereby the Orthodox Church gained power and became a platform for attaining peace and guidance for the subjugates and the Church was strengthened by the emergence of Yarlyk – a document that conferred Grand Princedom. This ordinance had such a profound impact that it is still part of the modern Russian heritage that it is now used as a price-merchandise tag on clothe items (Dewey). The most prominent change in the church was in fact its location. Kiev has been the historic centre for the Church before Mongol onslaught, however, after the armies had arrived, Kiev was destroyed and rapid deterioration followed. Vladimir became the new centre in 1299, which was soon replaced by Moscow in 1322 because of the ongoing rivalry between Tver and Moscow. Further, the Yarlyk resulted in a power diminution of the princes for the first time in Russian history. However, it brought with it strict penalties for disobedience; death. The monks also established the hermitages, resulting in the establishment of villages. Moreover, this shift of power also resulted in the emergence of new problems like the augmentation of serfdom land policies (John). Similarly, the Russian art faced destruction initially when the troops were brought in and massive destruction underwent. It was in a state of constant deportation. But the new focus towards the Orthodox Church resulted in a revival of Russian arts. The most famous artists that emerged and survived this era were Theofanes and Rublev who gave a new inspiration of expressing their devoted belief in Christianity. Their art became the cultural expression of Russia that was unprecedented in the history (Cherniavsk). The Novgorod and Nizhniy were amongst the many churches that were decorated and refurbished by Theophanes the Greek. The fourteenth century saw an upsurge of Byzantine- inspired arts with a new essence of fresco and iconography. The Iconostasis for the Church of the Annunciation and the décor of Archangel Michael are still some inspirational works done in the area of arts and culture (Charles). Apart from the changing face of Russian arts and culture, language, as an essential component of culture was also greatly impacted by the Mongol invasion. The linguistic impact extends not only to the socio-cultural effects but also the magnitude of effect extended to the geographical dimensions. The vast reach of the Mongol Empire enabled several tribes to interact and come closer; this gave way to an expansion of the inhabitants of the empire, into more and more culturally diverse groups to come closer (Dewey). The Mongol empire then became an amalgamation of several subcultures identified with different languages. The socio-linguistic impacts hence were immense with the convergence of dialects and accents. An interesting example is of the word “davai”, which is actually the literal meaning of a word of the Russian language from Turkic origin meaning “Let’s”. The Russians adopted several words and colloquial from the Mongolians and these words became part of their everyday application. Even so the cities and lands of Russia were inspired from the Tartic origin in southern Russia like Penza, and Kazan (Charles). With changes in linguistics, the administration of institutions also underwent a drastic change, as language was the prime means of conducting the interaction. New institutions like the yam basqaq and daruga were brought to the Empire by the Mongols others were simply transformed to meet the demands of the new Russia. The Kieven Russhia institutions like the veche completely obliterated and vanished from the system. It was the transformation of these institutions that lead to the development of an Imperial Russia. An intricate system of bureaucracy flourished and totalitarianism became the new political fabric to govern these institutions (Charles). The system of administration also underwent drastic changes. The Mongols introduced their own dual system of census tabulation to facilitate the collection of taxes. This system introduced a dual administration by the military and the civil governors with evident overlapping of authority and duplication of tasks. Basqaqi, the military governor and daruga, the civil governor advised Changez Khan on tribunal matters. Whereas initially the Russians were dissatisfied with the Mongolian ambassadors, the Russian were now subjugated under the mercy of Mongolian governors who overlooked all aspects of tax collection, posts, the institution of yam and managing the dispatching of foreign and local envoys (Dewey). The Mongol onslaught has very distinctively been characterised with the rise of Moscow in the history of the Russian Empire. Moscow was one of the most significant towns of Russia that was founded in 1147. The importance was far more than economic; it was of political significance. The town formed a connection between the Oka and Volga Rivers, which gave Russia the access to the Caspian Sea and the black sea. Even after the Mongol invasion, refuges from devastated Russ came to seek refuge in this town as it provided and easy access. Hence the Mongol invasion further strengthened the political and economic power of this town. However, the Mongolians did become responsible for the rebellion of Tver in 1327. The authority of tax collection was unified to the Moscow princes who changed the very structure of Russian administration and resulted in the rebellion. This is because as Moscow became the main tax collector and as its wealth began to multiply, it gained further control over the empire (John). It was the battle of Kulikovo Pole in 1380 that marked the symbolic decline of the Mongol control. The most significant of this 100 years rule was felt by Moscow, which gained money, power and thus, control. And this control continued to grow deeper and stronger. Till date, Moscow has remained as one of the most culturally rich and economically strong geographical areas in Russia. However, behind this glorified success, lied turbulence, manslaughter and a devastating struggle for power, which debilitated the societal values of this empire (Charles). Conclusion The Mongol ruled Russia for 250 years and thus left a profound impact on the Russian land and heritage that is reflected to this date. Thus the Mongol invasion elicited a multitude of social, economical, political and cultural impacts across the Russia (Dewey). Some of these impacts were positive like the establishment and gained strength of the Orthodox Church. But the demolition of the veche system and a renewed centralization of power promoted bureaucracy and dysfunctional self-governance that deterred the development of many principalities. The linguistic and administrative transformations rendered Russian to be reflect an Asian propagation rather than its origin whilst on the other hand, the positive impact of arts and cultural heritage, which strengthened its Christian roots, reflects its strong ties with Europe. Thus the Mongol rule made Russia stand at a crossroad that remains a mysterious enigma yet to be explored (John). Works Cited Charles, Halperin J. Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russia History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985. Cherniavsk, Michael. "An Aspect of Russian Mediaeval Political Theory." Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 20, No. 4 (1959): pp. 459-476. Dewey, Horace W. "Russias Debt to the Mongols in Suretyship and Collective Responsibility." Comparative Studies in Society and History Vol. 30 No. 2 (1988): pp. 249-270. John, Fennell. The Crisis of Medievel Russia: 1200-1304. New York: Longman Inc., 1983. Read More