Perhaps there is no more controversial event in Russian history than the Battle of Kulikovo. For lately it has become overgrown with a large number of myths, speculations and revelations. Even the very fact of this battle is called into question.

Battle legend

According to the official version, the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich (later Donskoy), having decided to put an end to the Mongol temnik Mamai, who increased the size of the tribute paid, gathers a large army.

Having chosen the most successful place - a field between the Don and Nepryadva - Dmitry meets the Mongol army moving towards Moscow and inflicts defeat on Mamai.
Domestic history mainly draws information about the Battle of Kulikovo from four sources - “The Tale of the Battle of Mamayev”, “A Brief Chronicle Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo”, “A Long Chronicle Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo” and “Zadonshchina”.

However, these works suffer from inaccuracies and literary fiction. But main problem is that in foreign sources there is no direct mention of either the Battle of Kulikovo or Dmitry Donskoy.
Given the paucity of information, some historians have great doubts about many facts: the composition and number of opposing sides, the place and date of the battle, as well as its outcome. Moreover, some researchers completely deny the reality of the Battle of Kulikovo.

Opposing parties

On some ancient frescoes and miniatures dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo, we can see an interesting detail: the faces, uniforms and even banners of the warring armies are painted in the same manner.

What is it - a lack of skill among painters? Hardly. Moreover, on a fragment of the icon “Sergius of Radonezh with Lives” in the camp of the army of Dmitry Donskoy, faces with obvious Mongoloid features are depicted. How can one not recall Lev Gumilyov, who claimed that the Tatars formed the backbone of the Moscow army.

However, according to art critic Victoria Gorshkova, “it is not customary to prescribe national features, historical details and details in icon painting.” But it is quite possible that this is not an allegorical image, but a real reflection of events. The signature on one of the miniatures depicting Mamaev’s massacre can reveal the mystery: “and Mamai and her princes will flee.”

It is known that Dmitry Donskoy was in alliance with Mongol Khan Tokhtamysh, and Tokhtamysh’s rival Mamai joined forces with the Lithuanian prince Jagiello and the Ryazan prince Oleg. Moreover, the western Mamayev uluses were inhabited mainly by Christians, who could join the Horde army.

Also adding fuel to the fire are the studies of E. Karnovich and V. Chechulin, who found that Christian names were almost never found among the Russian nobility of that time, but Turkic ones were common. All this fits into the unusual concept of the battle, in which international troops acted on both sides.
Other researchers make even bolder conclusions. For example, the author of the “New Chronology” Anatoly Fomenko claims that the Battle of Kulikovo is a showdown between the Russian princes, and the historian Rustam Nabi sees it as a clash between the troops of Mamai and Tokhtamysh.

Military maneuvers

There is a lot of mystery in the preparation for the battle. Scientist Vadim Kargalov notes: “The chronology of the campaign, its route, and the time of the Russian army’s crossing of the Don are not clear enough.”

For the historian Evgeny Kharin, the picture of the movement of troops is also contradictory: “both troops marched to meet at right angles to each other along the eastern bank of the Don (Muscovites to the south, Tatars to the west), then crossed it in almost the same place to fight on the other side! But some researchers, explaining the strange maneuver, believe that it was not Russian troops that were moving from the north, but Tokhtamysh’s army.
There are also questions about the quantitative composition of the warring parties. IN national history The figures most often featured were: 150 thousand Russians against 300 thousand Mongol-Tatars. However, now the number of both sides has been noticeably reduced - no more than 30 thousand warriors and 60 thousand Horde soldiers.

Some researchers raise questions not so much about the outcome of the battle as about its ending. It is known that the Russians achieved a decisive advantage by using an ambush regiment. Rustam Nabi, for example, does not believe in such an easy victory, arguing that the strong and experienced Mongol army could not have fled so easily without throwing its last reserves into battle.

Battle site

The most vulnerable and controversial part in the traditional concept of the Battle of Kulikovo is the place where it took place. When the 600th anniversary of the battle was celebrated in 1980, it turned out that no real archaeological excavations were carried out on the Kulikovo field. However, attempts to discover anything brought very meager results: several dozen metal fragments of uncertain dating.

This gave new strength to skeptics to claim that the Battle of Kulikovo took place in a completely different place. Even in the code of the Bulgarian chronicles, other coordinates of the Battle of Kulikovo were named - between the modern rivers Krasivaya Mecha and Sosna, which is slightly to the side of the Kulikovo field. But some modern researchers - supporters of the “new chronology” - literally went further.

The site of the Battle of Kulikovo, in their opinion, is located almost opposite the Moscow Kremlin - where it now stands huge building Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces named after. Peter the Great. Previously, there was an Orphanage here, which was built, according to the same researchers, in order to hide traces of the real site of the battle.

But on the site of the nearby Church of All Saints on Kulishki, according to some sources, there was already a church before the Battle of Kulikovo; according to others, a forest grew here, which makes this place impossible for a large-scale battle.

A battle lost in time

However, a number of researchers believe that there was no Battle of Kulikovo. Some of them refer to information from European chroniclers. Thus, Johann Poschilge, Dietmar Lübeck and Albert Kranz, who lived at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries, almost simultaneously describe major battle between Russians and Tatars in 1380, calling it the “Battle of Blue Water”.

These descriptions partly echo Russian chronicles about the Battle of Kulikovo. But is it possible that the “Battle of Blue Waters” between the troops of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd and the Horde troops, which took place in 1362 and the Massacre of Mamaevo, is one and the same event?

Another part of the researchers is inclined to believe that the Battle of Kulikovo can most likely be combined with the battle between Tokhtamysh and Mamai (due to the proximity of the dates), which took place in 1381.
However, the Kulikovo Field is also present in this version. Rustam Nabi believes that the Russian troops returning to Moscow could have been attacked at this place by the Ryazan people who did not participate in the battle. This is what Russian chronicles also report.

Six underground squares

Perhaps recent discoveries will help solve the puzzle of the Battle of Kulikovo. Using the Loza spatial georadar, specialists from the Institute for the Study of earth's crust and magnetism discovered six underground squares on the Kulikovo field, which, in their opinion, could be military mass graves.

Professor Viktor Zvyagin says that “the contents of the underground object are ashes, similar to those found in burials with complete destruction of flesh, including bone tissue.”

This version is supported by Andrey Naumov, deputy director of the Kulikovo Field Museum. Moreover, he believes that doubts about the reality of the battle that took place here in 1380 are unfounded. Absence large quantity He explains the archaeological finds at the battle site by the enormous value of clothing, weapons and armor. For example, the cost of a full set of armor was equal to the cost of 40 cows. IN short terms After the battle, the “good” was almost completely taken away.

Battle of Kulikovo 1380 - most important event in history medieval Rus', which largely determined the future fate Russian state. The Battle of the Kulikovo Field served as the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the yoke of the Golden Horde. The growing power of the Moscow principality, the strengthening of its authority among the Russian principalities, Moscow’s refusal to pay tribute to the Horde, defeat in the battle on the river. Vozhe became the main reasons for the plan of the temnik of the Golden Horde Mamai to organize a large campaign against Rus'.

BATTLE OF KULIKOVO - the battle of Russian regiments led by the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich and the Horde army under the command of Khan Mamai on September 8, 1380 on the Kulikovo field (on the right bank of the Don, in the area where the Nepryadva River flows into it), a turning point in the struggle of the Russian people with the yoke of the Golden Horde.

After the defeat of the Golden Horde troops on the Vozha River in 1378, the Horde temnik (the military leader who commanded the “darkness”, that is, 10,000 troops), chosen by the khan, named Mamai, decided to break the Russian princes and increase their dependence on the Horde. In the summer of 1380 he gathered an army numbering approx. 100-150 thousand warriors. In addition to the Tatars and Mongols, there were detachments of Ossetians, Armenians, Genoese living in the Crimea, Circassians, and a number of other peoples. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello agreed to be an ally of Mamai, whose army was supposed to support the Horde, moving along the Oka. Another ally of Mamai - according to a number of chronicles - was the Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich. According to other chronicles, Oleg Ivanovich only verbally expressed his readiness to ally, promising Mamai to fight on the side of the Tatars, but he himself immediately warned the Russian army about the threatening union of Mamai and Jagiello.

At the end of July 1380, having learned about the intentions of the Horde and Lithuanians to fight with Russia, the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich made an appeal for the gathering of Russian military forces in the capital and Kolomna, and soon gathered an army slightly smaller than Mamai’s troops. Mostly it consisted of Muscovites and warriors from lands that recognized the power of the Moscow prince, although a number of lands loyal to Moscow - Novogorod, Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod - did not express their readiness to support Dmitry. The main rival of the Prince of Moscow, the Prince of Tver, did not give his “wars”. Conducted by Dmitry military reform, having strengthened the core of the Russian army at the expense of the princely cavalry, gave access to the number of warriors to numerous artisans and townspeople who made up the “heavy infantry”. The foot warriors, by order of the commander, were armed with spears with narrow-leaved triangular tips, tightly mounted on long strong shafts, or with metal spears with dagger-shaped tips. Against the foot soldiers of the Horde (of which there were few), Russian warriors had sabers, and for long-range combat they were provided with bows, knobby helmets, metal ears and chain mail aventails (shoulder collars), the warrior’s chest was covered with scaly, plate or stacked armor, combined with chain mail . The old almond-shaped shields were replaced by round, triangular, rectangular and heart-shaped shields.

Dmitry's campaign plan was to prevent Khan Mamai from connecting with an ally or allies, force him to cross the Oka, or do it themselves, unexpectedly going out to meet the enemy. Dmitry received a blessing to fulfill his plan from Abbot Sergius of the Radonezh Monastery. Sergius predicted victory for the prince and, according to legend, sent with him “to battle” two monks of his monastery - Peresvet and Oslyabya.

From Kolomna, where Dmitry’s army of thousands had gathered, at the end of August he gave the order to move south. The rapid march of Russian troops (about 200 km in 11 days) did not allow the enemy forces to unite.

On the night of August 7–8, having crossed the Don River from the left to the right bank along floating bridges made of logs and having destroyed the crossing, the Russians reached the Kulikovo Field. The Russian rear was covered by the river - a tactical maneuver that opened new page in Russian military tactics. Prince Dmitry rather riskily cut off his possible retreat routes, but at the same time he covered his army from the flanks with rivers and deep ravines, making it difficult for the Horde cavalry to carry out outflanking maneuvers. Dictating his terms of battle to Mamai, the prince positioned the Russian troops in echelon: in front stood the Advanced Regiment (under the command of the Vsevolzh princes Dmitry and Vladimir), behind him was the Greater Foot Army (commander Timofey Velyaminov), the right and left flanks were covered by horse regiments. right hand"(commander - Kolomna thousand Mikula Velyaminova, brother of Timofey) and "left hand" (commander - Lithuanian prince Andrei Olgerdovich). Behind this main army stood a reserve - light cavalry (commander - Andrei's brother, Dmitry Olgerdovich). She was supposed to meet the Horde with arrows. In a dense oak grove, Dmitry ordered the reserve Ambush Field to be stationed under the command of Dmitry’s cousin, Prince Vladimir Andreevich of Serpukhov, who after the battle received the nickname Brave, as well as an experienced military commander, boyar Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky. The Moscow prince tried to force the Horde, whose first line was always cavalry, and the second - infantry, to a frontal attack.

The battle began on the morning of September 8 with a duel of heroes. From the Russian side, Alexander Peresvet, a monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, was put up for the duel, before he was tonsured - a Bryansk (according to another version, Lyubech) boyar. His opponent turned out to be the Tatar hero Temir-Murza (Chelubey). The warriors simultaneously thrust their spears into each other: this foreshadowed great bloodshed and a long battle. As soon as Chelubey fell from the saddle, the Horde cavalry moved into battle and quickly crushed the Advanced Regiment. Further onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars in the center was delayed by the deployment of the Russian reserve. Mamai transferred the main blow to the left flank and began to press back the Russian regiments there. The situation was saved by the Ambush Regiment of Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andeevich, who emerged from the oak grove, struck the rear and flank of the Horde cavalry and decided the outcome of the battle.

It is believed that Mamaev’s army was defeated in four hours (if the battle lasted from eleven to two o’clock in the afternoon). Russian soldiers pursued its remnants to the Krasivaya Mecha River (50 km above the Kulikovo Field); The Horde Headquarters was also captured there. Mamai managed to escape; Jagiello, having learned of his defeat, also hastily turned back.

The losses of both sides in the Battle of Kulikovo were enormous. The dead (both Russians and Horde) were buried for 8 days. 12 Russian princes and 483 boyars (60% of the command staff of the Russian army) fell in the battle. Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who participated in the battle on the front line as part of the Big Regiment, was wounded during the battle, but survived and later received the nickname “Donskoy”.

The Battle of Kulikovo instilled confidence in the possibility of victory over the Horde. The defeat on the Kulikovo Field accelerated the process of political fragmentation of the Golden Horde into uluses. For two years after the victory on the Kulikovo field, Rus' did not pay tribute to the Horde, which marked the beginning of the liberation of the Russian people from the Horde yoke, the growth of their self-awareness and the self-awareness of other peoples who were under the yoke of the Horde, and strengthened the role of Moscow as the center of the unification of Russian lands into a single state.

The memory of the Battle of Kulikovo has been preserved in historical songs, epics, stories Zadonshchina, The Legend of the Massacre of Mamayev, etc.). Created in the 90s - 14th - first half of the 15th centuries. following the chronicle stories, the Legend of the Massacre of Mamayev is the most complete coverage of the events of September 1380. More than 100 copies of the Legend are known, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, which have survived in 4 main editions (Basic, Distributed, Chronicle and Cyprian). The widespread one contains a detailed account of the events of the Battle of Kulikovo, which are not found in other monuments, starting with the prehistory (the embassy of Zakhary Tyutchev to the Horde with gifts in order to prevent bloody events) and about the battle itself (participation in it of the Novgorod regiments, etc.). Only the Legend preserved information about the number of Mamai’s troops, descriptions of preparations for the campaign (“harnessing”) of Russian regiments, details of their route to the Kulikovo Field, features of the deployment of Russian troops, a list of princes and governors who took part in the battle.

The Cyprian edition highlights the role of Metropolitan Cyprian, in it the Lithuanian prince Jagiello is named as an ally of Mamai (as it actually was). The Legend contains a lot of didactic church literature: both in the story about the trip of Dmitry and his brother Vladimir to St. Sergei of Rodonezh for a blessing, and about the prayers of Dmitry’s wife Evdokia, by which the prince himself and their children “were saved,” and what was said in the mouth of the governor Dmitry Bobrok - Volynets included the words that “the cross is the main weapon”, and that the Moscow prince “carries out a good deed”, which is led by God, and Mamai - darkness and evil, behind which stands the devil. This motif runs through all the lists of the Legend, in which Prince Dmitry is endowed with many positive characteristics (wisdom, courage, courage, military talent, courage, etc.).

The folklore basis of the Legend enhances the impression of the description of the battle, presenting an episode of single combat before the start of the battle between Peresvet and Chelubey, a picture of Dmitry dressing up in the clothes of a simple warrior and handing over his armor to the governor Mikhail Brenk, as well as the exploits of the governor, boyars, ordinary warriors (Yurka the shoemaker, etc. ). The Legend also contains poetics: a comparison of Russian warriors with falcons and gyrfalcons, a description of pictures of nature, episodes of farewells to soldiers leaving Moscow for the battle site with their wives.

In 1807, the Legend was used by the Russian playwright V.A. Ozerov when writing the tragedy Dmitry Donskoy.

The first monument to the heroes of the Kulikovo battle was the church on the Kulikovo field, assembled shortly after the battle from the oak trees of the Green Oak Forest, where the regiment of Prince Vladimir Andreevich was hidden in ambush. In Moscow, in honor of the events of 1380, the Church of All Saints on Kulichiki (now located next to the modern Kitay-Gorod metro station), as well as the Mother of God Nativity Monastery, which in those days gave shelter to the widows and orphans of warriors who died in the Battle of Kulikovo, were built. On the Red Hill of the Kulikovo Field in 1848 a 28-meter cast-iron column was built - a monument in honor of the victory of Dmitry Donskoy over the Golden Horde (architect A.P. Bryullov, brother of the painter). In 1913-1918, a temple was built on the Kulikovo field in the name of St. Sergei Radonezhsky.

The Battle of Kulikovo was also reflected in the paintings of O. Kiprensky - Prince Donskoy after the Battle of Kulikovo, Morning on the Kulikovo Field, M. Avilov - The Duel of Peresvet and Chelubey, etc. The theme of the glory of Russian weapons in the 14th century. represented by Yu. Shaporin's cantata On the Kulikovo Field. The 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo was widely celebrated. In 2002, the Order “For Service to the Fatherland” was established in memory of St. V. book Dmitry Donskoy and Venerable Abbot Sergius of Radonezh. Attempts to prevent the declaration of the day of the Battle of Kulikovo as the day of glory of Russian weapons, which came in the 1990s from a group of Tatar historians who motivated their actions with the desire to prevent the formation of an “enemy image,” were categorically rejected by the President of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev, who emphasized that Russians and Tatars have long “gathered in a single Fatherland and they must mutually respect the pages of the history of the military glory of peoples.”

In Russian church history, the victory on the Kulikovo Field began to be celebrated along with the Christmas holiday. Holy Mother of God, celebrated annually on September 21 (September 8, old style).

Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva

A story about the Battle of Kulikovo using supporting words. Battle of Kulikovo (briefly)

Battle of Kulikovo (Mamaevo Massacre), a battle between the united Russian army led by the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and the army of the temnik of the Golden Horde Mamai, which took place on September 8, 1380 on the Kulikovo field (historical area between the Don, Nepryadva and Krasivaya Mecha rivers in the south- east of the Tula region.

Strengthening the Moscow Principality in the 60s of the 14th century. and the unification around him of the remaining lands of North-Eastern Rus' proceeded almost simultaneously with the strengthening of the power of the temnik Mamai in the Golden Horde. Married to the daughter of the Golden Horde Khan Berdibek, he received the title of emir and became the arbiter of the destinies of that part of the Horde, which was located west of the Volga to the Dnieper and in the steppe expanses of the Crimea and Ciscaucasia.

Militia of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich in 1380 Lubok, 17th century.

In 1374, Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who also had a label for the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. Then the khan in 1375 transferred the label to the great reign of Tver. But virtually the entire North-Eastern Rus' opposed Mikhail Tverskoy. The Moscow prince organized a military campaign against the Tver principality, which was joined by Yaroslavl, Rostov, Suzdal and regiments of other principalities. Novgorod the Great also supported Dmitry. Tver capitulated. According to the concluded agreement, the Vladimir table was recognized as the “fatherland” of the Moscow princes, and Mikhail Tverskoy became Dmitry’s vassal.

However, the ambitious Mamai continued to consider the defeat of the Moscow principality, which had escaped subordination, as the main factor in strengthening his own positions in the Horde. In 1376, the Khan of the Blue Horde, Arab Shah Muzzaffar (Arapsha of Russian chronicles), who went over to the service of Mamai, ravaged the Novosilsk principality, but returned back, avoiding a battle with the Moscow army that had gone beyond the Oka border. In 1377 he was on the river. It was not the Moscow-Suzdal army that defeated Pian. The governors sent against the Horde showed carelessness, for which they paid: “And their princes, and boyars, and nobles, and governors, consoling and having fun, drinking and fishing, imagining the existence of the house,” and then ruined the Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan principalities.

In 1378, Mamai, trying to force him to pay tribute again, sent an army led by Murza Begich to Rus'. The Russian regiments that came out to meet were led by Dmitry Ivanovich himself. The battle took place on August 11, 1378 in Ryazan land, on a tributary of the Oka river. Vozhe. The Horde were completely defeated and fled. The Battle of Vozha showed the increased power of the Russian state emerging around Moscow.

Mamai attracted armed detachments from the conquered peoples of the Volga region and North Caucasus, his army also included heavily armed infantrymen from the Genoese colonies in Crimea. The Horde's allies were the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello and the Ryazan Prince Oleg Ivanovich. However, these allies were on their own: Jagiello did not want to strengthen either the Horde or the Russian side, and as a result, his troops never appeared on the battlefield; Oleg Ryazansky entered into an alliance with Mamai, fearing for the fate of his border principality, but he was the first to inform Dmitry about the advance of the Horde troops and did not participate in the battle.

In the summer of 1380 Mamai began his campaign. Not far from the place where the Voronezh River flows into the Don, the Horde set up their camps and, wandering, awaited news from Jagiello and Oleg.

In the terrible hour of danger hanging over the Russian land, Prince Dmitry showed exceptional energy in organizing resistance to the Golden Horde. At his call, military detachments and militias of peasants and townspeople began to gather. All of Rus' rose up to fight the enemy. The gathering of Russian troops was appointed in Kolomna, where the core of the Russian army set out from Moscow. The courtyard of Dmitry himself, his regiments, walked separately along different roads cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky and the regiments of Belozersk, Yaroslavl and Rostov princes. The regiments of the Olgerdovich brothers (Andrei Polotsky and Dmitry Bryansky, the Jagiello brothers) also moved to join the troops of Dmitry Ivanovich. The brothers' army included Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians; citizens of Polotsk, Drutsk, Bryansk and Pskov.

After the troops arrived in Kolomna, a review was held. The assembled army on the Maiden Field was striking in its numbers. The gathering of troops in Kolomna had not only military, but also political significance. The Ryazan prince Oleg finally got rid of his hesitations and abandoned the idea of joining the troops of Mamai and Jagiello. A marching battle formation was formed in Kolomna: Prince Dmitry led the Big Regiment; Serpukhov Prince Vladimir Andreevich with the Yaroslavl people - the regiment of the Right Hand; Gleb Bryansky was appointed commander of the Left Hand regiment; The leading regiment was made up of Kolomna residents.

Saint Sergius of Radonezh blesses Saint Prince Demetrius Donskoy.
Artist S.B. Simakov. 1988

August 20 Russian army set off from Kolomna on a campaign: it was important to block the path of Mamai’s hordes as soon as possible. On the eve of the campaign, Dmitry Ivanovich visited Sergius of Radonezh at the Trinity Monastery. After the conversation, the prince and the abbot went out to the people. Having made the sign of the cross over the prince, Sergius exclaimed: “Go, sir, against the filthy Polovtsians, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor.” Blessing the prince, Sergius predicted victory for him, albeit at a high price, and sent two of his monks, Peresvet and Oslyabya, on the campaign.

The entire campaign of the Russian army to the Oka was carried out in a relatively short time. The distance from Moscow to Kolomna is about 100 km; the troops covered it in 4 days. They arrived at the mouth of Lopasnya on August 26. Ahead there was a guard guard, which had the task of protecting the main forces from a surprise attack by the enemy.

On August 30, Russian troops began crossing the Oka River near the village of Priluki. Okolnichy Timofey Velyaminov and his detachment monitored the crossing, awaiting the approach of the foot army. On September 4, 30 km from the Don River in the Berezuy tract, the allied regiments of Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich joined the Russian army. Once again, the location of the Horde army was clarified, which, awaiting the approach of the allies, was wandering around the Kuzmina Gati.

The movement of the Russian army from the mouth of Lopasnya to the west was intended to prevent the Lithuanian army of Jagiello from uniting with the forces of Mamai. In turn, Jagiello, having learned about the route and number of Russian troops, was in no hurry to unite with the Mongol-Tatars, hovering around Odoev. The Russian command, having received this information, decisively sent troops to the Don, trying to forestall the formation of enemy units and strike at the Mongol-Tatar horde. On September 5, the Russian cavalry reached the mouth of the Nepryadva, which Mamai learned about only the next day.

To develop a plan for further action, on September 6, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich convened a military council. The votes of the council members were divided. Some suggested going beyond the Don and fighting the enemy on the southern bank of the river. Others advised staying on the northern bank of the Don and waiting for the enemy to attack. The final decision depended on the Grand Duke. Dmitry Ivanovich uttered the following significant words: “Brothers! An honest death is better than an evil life. It was better not to go out against the enemy than to come and do nothing and return back. Let's all cross the Don today and lay our heads there Orthodox faith and our brothers." The Grand Duke of Vladimir preferred offensive actions that made it possible to maintain the initiative, which was important not only in strategy (hitting the enemy in parts), but also in tactics (choosing the location of the battle and the surprise of a strike on the enemy army). After the council in the evening, Prince Dmitry and voivode Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky moved beyond the Don and examined the area.

The area chosen by Prince Dmitry for the battle was called Kulikovo Field. On three sides - west, north and east, it was limited by the Don and Nepryadva rivers, cut by ravines and small rivers. The right wing of the Russian army forming into battle formation was covered by the rivers flowing into the Nepryadva (Upper, Middle and Lower Dubiki); on the left is the rather shallow Smolka River, which flows into the Don, and dried up stream beds (beams with gentle slopes). But this lack of terrain was compensated for - behind Smolka there was a forest in which a general reserve could be placed, guarding the fords across the Don and strengthening the wing’s battle formation. Along the front, the Russian position had a length of over eight kilometers (some authors significantly reduce it and then question the number of troops). However, the terrain convenient for enemy cavalry action was limited to four kilometers and was located in the center of the position - near the converging upper reaches of Nizhny Dubik and Smolka. Mamai's army, having an advantage in deployment along a front of more than 12 kilometers, could attack Russian battle formations with cavalry only in this limited area, which excluded maneuver by cavalry masses.

On the night of September 7, 1380, the crossing of the main forces began. Foot troops and convoys crossed the Don along built bridges, and cavalry forded. The crossing was carried out under the cover of strong guard detachments.

Morning on the Kulikovo field. Artist A.P. Bubnov. 1943–1947.

According to the guards Semyon Melik and Pyotr Gorsky, who had a battle with enemy reconnaissance on September 7, it became known that the main forces of Mamai were at a distance of one crossing and should be expected at the Don by the morning of the next day. Therefore, so that Mamai would not forestall the Russian army, already on the morning of September 8, the army of Rus', under the cover of the Sentinel Regiment, took up battle formation. On the right flank, adjacent to the steep banks of Nizhny Dubik, stood the Right Hand regiment, which included Andrei Olgerdovich’s squad. The squads of the Big Regiment were located in the center. They were commanded by the Moscow okolnichy Timofey Velyaminov. On the left flank, covered from the east by the Smolka River, the Left Hand regiment of Prince Vasily Yaroslavsky formed. Ahead of the Big Regiment was the Advanced Regiment. Behind the left flank of the Big Regiment, a reserve detachment was secretly located, commanded by Dmitry Olgerdovich. Behind the Left Hand regiment in the Green Dubrava forest, Dmitry Ivanovich placed a selected cavalry detachment of 10–16 thousand people - the Ambush Regiment, led by Prince Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky and the experienced governor Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky.

Battle of Kulikovo. Artist A. Yvon. 1850

This formation was chosen taking into account the terrain and the method of fighting used by the Golden Horde. Their favorite technique was to envelop one or both flanks of the enemy with cavalry detachments and then move to his rear. The Russian army took up a position reliably covered on the flanks by natural obstacles. Due to the terrain conditions, the enemy could attack the Russians only from the front, which deprived him of the opportunity to use his numerical superiority and use the usual tactics. The number of Russian troops, formed in battle formation, reached 50–60 thousand people.

Mamai’s army, which arrived on the morning of September 8 and stopped 7–8 kilometers from the Russians, numbered about 90–100 thousand people. It consisted of a vanguard (light cavalry), the main forces (mercenary Genoese infantry were in the center, and heavy cavalry deployed in two lines on the flanks) and a reserve. Light reconnaissance and security detachments scattered in front of the Horde camp. The enemy's plan was to cover the Russian. army from both flanks, and then surround it and destroy it. The main role in solving this problem was assigned to powerful cavalry groups concentrated on the flanks of the Horde army. However, Mamai was in no hurry to join the battle, still hoping for Jagiello’s approach.

But Dmitry Ivanovich decided to draw Mamai’s army into the battle and ordered his regiments to march. The Grand Duke took off his armor, handed it over to the boyar Mikhail Brenk, and he himself put on simple armor, but not inferior in its protective properties to the prince’s. The Grand Duke's dark red (black) banner was raised in the Big Regiment - a symbol of honor and glory of the united Russian army. It was handed to Brenk.

Duel between Peresvet and Chelubey. Artist. V.M. Vasnetsov. 1914

The battle began around 12 o'clock. When the main forces of the parties converged, a duel between the Russian warrior monk Alexander Peresvet and the Mongolian hero Chelubey (Temir-Murza) took place. As folk legend says, Peresvet rode out without protective armor, with only one spear. Chelubey was fully armed. The warriors dispersed their horses and struck their spears. A powerful simultaneous blow - Chelubey fell dead with his head towards the Horde army, which was bad omen. Pere-light stayed in the saddle for several moments and also fell to the ground, but with his head towards the enemy. This is how the folk legend predetermined the outcome of the battle for a just cause. After the fight, a fierce battle broke out. As the chronicle writes: “The strength of the Tatar greyhound from Sholomyani is great, coming and then again, not doing, stasha, for there is no place for them to make way; and so stasha, a copy of the pawn, wall against wall, each of them has on the shoulder of his predecessors, the ones in front are more beautiful, and the ones in the back are longer. And the great prince also with his great Russian strength went against them with another Sholomian.”

For three hours, Mamai’s army unsuccessfully tried to break through the center and right wing of the Russian army. Here the onslaught of the Horde troops was repulsed. Andrei Olgerdovich’s detachment was active. He repeatedly launched a counterattack, helping the center regiments hold back the enemy onslaught.

Then Mamai concentrated his main efforts against the Left Hand regiment. In a fierce battle with a superior enemy, the regiment suffered heavy losses and began to retreat. Dmitry Olgerdovich's reserve detachment was brought into the battle. The warriors took the place of the fallen, trying to hold back the onslaught of the enemy, and only their death allowed the Mongol cavalry to move forward. The soldiers of the Ambush Regiment, seeing the difficult situation of their military brothers-in-arms, were eager to fight. Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy, who commanded the regiment, decided to join the battle, but his adviser, the experienced governor Bobrok, held the prince back. Mamaev's cavalry, pressing the left wing and breaking through the battle formation of the Russian army, began to go to the rear of the Big Regiment. The Horde, reinforced by fresh forces from the Mamaia reserve, bypassing Green Dubrava, attacked the soldiers of the Big Regiment.

The decisive moment of the battle had arrived. The Ambush Regiment, the existence of which Mamai did not know, rushed into the flank and rear of the Golden Horde cavalry that had broken through. The attack by the Ambush Regiment came as a complete surprise to the Tatars. “I fell into great fear and horror of wickedness... and cried out, saying: “Alas for us!” ... the Christians have become wise over us, the daring and daring princes and governors have left us in hiding and have prepared plans for us that are not tired; Our arms are weakened, and the shoulders of the Ustasha, and our knees are numb, and our horses are very tired, and our weapons are worn out; and who can go against them?...” Taking advantage of the emerging success, other regiments also went on the offensive. The enemy fled. Russian squads pursued him for 30–40 kilometers - to the Beautiful Sword River, where the convoy and rich trophies were captured. Mamai's army was completely defeated. It practically ceased to exist.

Returning from the chase, Vladimir Andreevich began to gather an army. Myself Grand Duke was shell-shocked and knocked off his horse, but was able to get to the forest, where he was found after the battle under a felled birch tree in an unconscious state. But the Russian army also suffered heavy losses, amounting to about 20 thousand people.

For eight days the Russian army collected and buried the dead soldiers, and then moved to Kolomna. On September 28, the winners entered Moscow, where the entire population of the city was waiting for them. The Battle of Kulikovo Field was of great importance in the struggle of the Russian people for liberation from the foreign yoke. It seriously undermined the military power of the Golden Horde and accelerated its subsequent collapse. The news that “Great Rus' defeated Mamai on the Kulikovo field” quickly spread throughout the country and far beyond its borders. For his outstanding victory, the people nicknamed Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich “Donskoy”, and his cousin, Prince Vladimir Andreevich of Serpukhov, nicknamed him “Brave”.

Jagiello's troops, having not reached the Kulikovo field 30-40 kilometers and having learned about the Russian victory, quickly returned to Lithuania. Mamai’s ally did not want to take risks, since there were many Slavic troops in his army. In the army of Dmitry Ivanovich there were prominent representatives of Lithuanian soldiers who had supporters in Jagiello’s army, and they could go over to the side of the Russian troops. All this forced Jagiello to be as careful as possible in making decisions.

Mamai, abandoning his defeated army, fled with a handful of comrades to Kafa (Feodosia), where he was killed. Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Horde. He demanded that Rus' resume the payment of tribute, arguing that in the Battle of Kulikovo it was not the Golden Horde that was defeated, but the usurper of power, Temnik Mamai. Dmitry refused. Then, in 1382, Tokhtamysh undertook a punitive campaign against Rus', captured and burned Moscow by cunning. The largest cities of the Moscow land - Dmitrov, Mozhaisk and Pereyaslavl - were also subjected to merciless destruction, and then the Horde marched through the Ryazan lands with fire and sword. As a result of this raid, Horde rule over Russia was restored.

Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field. Artist V.K. Sazonov. 1824.

In terms of its scale, the Battle of Kulikovo has no equal in the Middle Ages and occupies a prominent place in the history of military art. The strategy and tactics used in the Battle of Kulikovo by Dmitry Donskoy were superior to the strategy and tactics of the enemy and were distinguished by their offensive nature, activity and purposefulness of action. Deep, well-organized reconnaissance allowed us to make the right decisions and make an exemplary march-maneuver to the Don. Dmitry Donskoy managed to correctly assess and use the terrain conditions. He took into account the enemy’s tactics and revealed his plan.

Burial of fallen soldiers after the Battle of Kulikovo.
1380. Front chronicle of the 16th century.

Based on the terrain conditions and the tactical techniques used by Mamai, Dmitry Ivanovich rationally positioned the forces at his disposal on the Kulikovo field, created a general and private reserve, and thought through the issues of interaction between the regiments. The tactics of the Russian army received further development. The presence of a general reserve (Ambush Regiment) in the battle formation and its skillful use, expressed in the successful choice of the moment of entry into action, predetermined the outcome of the battle in favor of the Russians.

Assessing the results of the Battle of Kulikovo and the activities of Dmitry Donskoy preceding it, a number of modern scientists who have most fully studied this issue do not believe that the Moscow prince set himself the goal of leading the anti-Horde struggle in the broad concept of the word, but only spoke out against Mamai as a usurper of power in Zolotaya Horde. So, A.A. Gorsky writes: “Open disobedience to the Horde, which developed into an armed struggle against it, occurred during a period when power there fell into the hands of an illegitimate ruler (Mamai). With the restoration of “legitimate” power, an attempt was made to limit ourselves to a purely nominal, without payment of tribute, recognition of the supremacy of the “king,” but the military defeat of 1382 thwarted this. Nevertheless, the attitude towards foreign power changed: it became obvious that when certain conditions its non-recognition and successful military opposition to the Horde are possible.” Therefore, as other researchers note, despite the fact that protests against the Horde occur within the framework of previous ideas about the relationship between the Russian princes - “ulusniks” and the Horde “kings”, “The Battle of Kulikovo undoubtedly became a turning point in the formation of a new self-awareness of the Russians people,” and “the victory on the Kulikovo field secured Moscow’s role as the organizer and ideological center of the reunification of the East Slavic lands, showing that the path to their state-political unity was the only path to their liberation from foreign domination.”

Monument-column, made according to the design of A.P. Bryullov at the Ch. Berd plant.
Installed on the Kulikovo field in 1852 on the initiative of the first explorer
battles of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod S. D. Nechaev.

The times of the Horde invasions were becoming a thing of the past. It became clear that in Rus' there were forces capable of resisting the Horde. The victory contributed to the further growth and strengthening of the Russian centralized state and raised the role of Moscow as a center of unification.

September 21 (September 8 according to the Julian calendar) in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 No. 32-FZ “On the Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” is the Day of Military Glory of Russia - Victory Day of the Russian regiments led by Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy over the Mongol-Tatar troops in the Battle of Kulikovo.
A chronicle collection called the Patriarchal or Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. St. Petersburg, 1897. P. 27.
Quote by: Borisov N.S. And the candle would not go out... Historical portrait Sergius of Radonezh. M., 1990. P.222.
Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 56.
Kirpichnikov A.N. Battle of Kulikovo. L., 1980. P. 105.
This number was calculated by the Soviet military historian E.A. Razin based on the total population of Russian lands, taking into account the principles of recruiting troops for all-Russian campaigns. See: Razin E.A. History of military art. T. 2. St. Petersburg, 1994. P. 272. The same number of Russian troops is determined by A.N. Kirpichnikov. See: Kirpichnikov A.N. Decree. Op. P. 65. In the works of historians of the 19th century. this number varies from 100 thousand to 200 thousand people. See: Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T.V.M., 1993.S. 40; Ilovaisky D.I. Collectors of Rus'. M., 1996. P. 110.; Soloviev S.M. History of Russia from ancient times. Book 2. M., 1993. P. 323. Russian chronicles provide extremely exaggerated data on the number of Russian troops: Resurrection Chronicle - about 200 thousand. See: Resurrection Chronicle. PSRL. T. VIII. St. Petersburg, 1859. P. 35; Nikon Chronicle - 400 thousand. See: Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 56.
See: Skrynnikov R.G. Battle of Kulikovo // Battle of Kulikovo in the cultural history of our Motherland. M., 1983. S. 53-54.
Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 60.
Right there. P. 61.
“Zadonshchina” talks about the flight of Mamai himself-nine to the Crimea, that is, about the death of 8/9 of the entire army in the battle. See: Zadonshchina // Military stories Ancient Rus'. L., 1986. P. 167.
See: The Legend of the Massacre of Mamaev // Military Tales of Ancient Rus'. L., 1986. P. 232.
Kirpichnikov A.N. Decree. Op. P. 67, 106. According to E.A. Razin’s Horde lost about 150 thousand, the Russians killed and died from wounds - about 45 thousand people (See: Razin E.A. Op. cit. T. 2. pp. 287–288). B. Urlanis speaks of 10 thousand killed (See: Urlanis B.Ts. History of military losses. St. Petersburg, 1998. P. 39). The “Tale of the Massacre of Mamaev” says that 653 boyars were killed. See: Military stories of Ancient Rus'. P. 234. The figure given there total number 253 thousand deaths of Russian combatants is clearly overestimated.
Gorsky A.A. Moscow and Horde. M. 2000. P. 188.
Danilevsky I.N. Russian lands through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (XII-XIV centuries). M. 2000. P. 312.
Shabuldo F.M. The lands of Southwestern Rus' as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Kyiv, 1987. P. 131.

On September 8, 1380 according to the Julian calendar (September 21 according to the new style), the historical battle of Russian troops and the Golden Horde took place.

1. The Battle of Kulikovo was not the first successful battle of Russian troops against the Golden Horde. In 1365, the Horde were defeated at the Shishevsky forest, in 1367 on the Pyana River, and in 1378, the army of Dmitry Donskoy defeated the army of Murza Begich on the Vozha River.

2. Due to inconsistencies in data from sources about the Battle of Kulikovo, there are extremely contradictory estimates of the number of its participants. The smallest number of Russian and Horde troops is indicated at 5-10 thousand people, the largest - at 800 thousand people only as part of the Golden Horde army.

3. The immediate cause of the conflict that led to the Battle of Kulikovo was the refusal of the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy to pay tribute to the Golden Horde on pre-existing conditions. At the same time, Dmitry Donskoy did not dispute the Horde’s right to tribute, but had reason to resist Mamai, who was a usurper and not the legitimate ruler of the Golden Horde.

4. The outcome of the Battle of Kulikovo was decided by the strike of an ambush regiment led by Dmitry Andreevich Bobrok-Volynsky and Prince Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky. A century and a half earlier, in 1242, a similar technique brought the squad of Alexander Nevsky victory over the German knights in the battle on Lake Peipsi.

5. Before the start of the battle, Prince Dmitry Donskoy exchanged clothes with the Moscow boyar Mikhail Brenok and took his place among the ordinary warriors. Mikhail Brenok, who replaced the prince, died during an attack by the Horde, who hoped to disorganize the Russian army by killing the commander.

6. On the side of the troops of the Golden Horde, led by Mamai, the troops of Prince Jagiello of Lithuania and the squad of Prince Oleg of Ryazan were supposed to act. These plans were thwarted by the decisive march of the Russian army towards the Horde. As a result, the Lithuanians and Ryazans, who did not have time for the battle, were noted only by attacks on Russian convoys returning after the battle with the wounded and booty.

7. Dmitry Donskoy decided to give battle to the army of the Golden Horde, crossing the Oka and moving towards the Don. Thus, the prince ruled out the possibility of a sudden appearance of Mamai’s Lithuanian allies in his rear. The maneuver was unexpected not only for the Horde, but also for the Russians. In many cities that sent regiments to the battle with Mamai, it was believed that Dmitry Donskoy was leading the army to certain death

8. The triumphant of the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who received the blessing of Sergius of Radonezh for the battle, was canonized at Soviet power- decision Local Council Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.

9. Victories on the Kulikovo Field and Velikaya Patriotic War were won under a banner of one color - red. In the Battle of Kulikovo, Russian regiments fought under a dark red banner depicting the golden image of Jesus Christ.

10. The defeat of Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo led to his defeat in the struggle with Khan Tokhtamysh for power in the Golden Horde. Two years later, in 1382, Tokhtamysh plundered and burned Moscow and secured the payment of tribute.

In the second half of the 14th century, civil strife between khans and rulers weakened Golden Horde. Rus' had the opportunity to throw off the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, grandson of Ivan Kalita, refused to pay tribute. The angry ruler of the Horde, Mamai, announced that he would follow “Batu’s footsteps” and lead Rus' to submission. But Dmitry was not afraid of Mamai’s threats. He called Russian squads and princes from many cities under his banner. He blessed Prince Dmitry for his feat of arms Venerable Sergius Radonezh, rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The enemy of Moscow, the Polish-Lithuanian king Jagiello, took the side of Mamai. Mamai, who had gathered a large army (up to 100 thousand people), was awaiting the approach of his ally Jagiello. But he, having learned about the movement of the Russian regiments, did not dare to move to the aid of Mamai. Dmitry Ivanovich, planning to forestall his enemies, on the night of September 8, 1380, ordered Russian soldiers to secretly cross the Don and take up positions on the Kulikovo Field. To the east of the field, in the Green Oak Forest, he hid an ambush regiment, which played a decisive role in the Battle of Kulikovo.

On the morning of September 8, the battle began with a duel between Russian and Tatar warriors - Peresvet and Chelubey, in which both died. Another Russian hero-monk Oslyabya was also one of the first to fall on the battlefield.

At the beginning of the battle, success was on the side of the Tatars, but the outcome of the battle was decided by the ambush regiment, which dealt a crushing blow to the enemy’s rear and flank.

The Tatars wavered and began to retreat in disarray. Soon the retreat turned into a general flight. Mamai himself fled to Crimea, where he was killed.

The losses of the Russian army were also great; for a whole week (from September 9 to 16) the Russians buried their dead. But on September 28, the winners, led by Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, nicknamed Donskoy, were solemnly greeted by the residents of Moscow.

The victory on the Kulikovo field did not free Rus' from Tatar-Mongol yoke, but became a turning point in the history of Rus'. The victory in this battle gave the Russian people the belief that they were able to fight the Tatars and defeat them. The symbol of this faith was Principality of Moscow, whose most important role in Rus' no one else disputed.