224 chapter four
fused.319 In order to put an end to such dangerous developments, Mamai
sent a punitive expedition against the rebellious vassals. Its defeat at the
Battle of the Vozha river served only to give an idea of the strength of
the enemy and to give the Kremlin an important psychological victory
alongside its military one.320
for the next two years, both camps prepared for the decisive battle.
as well as mobilising all the resources he could draw upon,321 Mamai
“paid for the fryazï, the circassians, the Yashï and others besides”322 and
obtained promises of aid from Jagiełło, Grand Duke of Lithuania, whose
rivalry with Dmitriy Ivanovich was well-known.323 Despite the defection
of oleg, Duke of ryazan, who joined the tartar-Lithuanian alliance, a vast
‘national’ army from all russian lands fought under Moscow’s banner.324
the decisive confrontation took place by the Don, at the field of
Kulikovo, on 8th September 1380. Battle was joined with great ferocity,
and after massive losses on both sides the hard-fought victory went to the
russians, led with unequalled bravery by Dmitriy Ivanovich, remembered
in history as Dmitriy Donskoy after the river where he won the day.325
News of the victory spread like wildfire, and historians have always
stressed its implications: it was the first time that such a large tartar army
had been defeated, and the horde was no longer invincible. for all the
tribulations that the russian people were yet to endure until their final
liberation, the course had been set by the Grand Duke of Moscow and
confirmed at Kulikovo. the battle of 1380 marked the low point in the
Golden horde’s precipitate slide from power.
319 Nasonov, Mongolï, p. 126: “the first steps toward the unification of russia around
Moscow were characterised by resistance to tartar rule.” certainly, Moscow’s attempts
to impose themselves as leaders of concerted resistance to the Golden horde are older,
but the Grand prince brought a new force and a consistent, inexorable approach to the
project.
320 Spuler, Horde, p. 126, Grekov, Yakubovskiy, Orda, pp. 287–288.
321 cf. egorov, “orda,” pp. 174–213, who examined changes in the internal structure of
the Golden horde from the mid-fourteenth century to 1380; he minutely examined the
social and economic causes in the period which led to centrifugal tendencies and the
crumbling of the Jochid feudal state.
322 Nikonovskaya letopis’, XI, p. 65; the russian word Fryaz corresponds to Franc, mean-
ing ‘Western, catholic;ʼ the Yashï are the alans (cf. ciocîltan, “alanii,” p. 935).
323 Despite this agreement, Lithuanian troops never joined forces with the tartars,
although they were near the site of the battle (cf. Beskrovnïy, “Bitva,” p. 234).
324 although the lists of participants differ from one chronicle to another, historians
estimate around 70,000 russian soldiers and 50–60,000 in Mamai’s army; there are much
larger numbers given in Grekov, Yakubovskiy, Orda, p. 292.
325 Detailed descriptions of the battle in Grekov, Yakubovskiy, Orda, pp. 290–294 and
Beskrovnïy, “Bitva,” pp. 228–245.