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The Great Stand on the Ugra River (russian: Великое cтояние на реке Угре, also russian: Угорщина, translit=Ugorshchina, derived from " Ugra") was a standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan of the
Great Horde The Great Horde (''Uluğ Orda'') was a rump state of the Golden Horde that existed from the mid-15th century to 1502. It was centered at the core of the Golden Horde at Sarai. Both the Khanate of Astrakhan and the Khanate of Crimea broke away ...
, and the Grand Prince
Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his bl ...
of
Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...
in 1480 on the banks of the Ugra River, which ended when the
Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different
departed without conflict. It is seen in Russian historiography as the end of the vassalage of Muscovy.Michael Khodarkovsky, ''Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500–1800'' (Indiana University Press, 2002), 80.


Background

The main Russian defence line ran along the
Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...
from Kaluga east toward Nizhny Novgorod. At Kaluga the Oka bends sharply from north to east and the defense line was extended westward along the Ugra River. The land west and south of Kaluga was claimed by Lithuania. At this time
Ivan III Ivan III Vasilyevich (russian: Иван III Васильевич; 22 January 1440 – 27 October 1505), also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of all Rus'. Ivan served as the co-ruler and regent for his bl ...
was uniting the lands north of the Oka. At the same time the
Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...
was breaking up and the steppe remnant came to be called the
Great Horde The Great Horde (''Uluğ Orda'') was a rump state of the Golden Horde that existed from the mid-15th century to 1502. It was centered at the core of the Golden Horde at Sarai. Both the Khanate of Astrakhan and the Khanate of Crimea broke away ...
.
Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the ...
of Poland-Lithuania was allied with the Great Horde, while Russia was allied with Crimea against the Horde. In 1472 Akhmed of the Great Horde raided the Oka at
Aleksin Aleksin (russian: Але́ксин) is a town and the administrative center of Aleksinsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Tula, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded at the end of th ...
but was driven off. In 1476 Russia officially stopped paying tribute to the Tatars. In late 1479 Ivan quarreled with his brothers,
Andrey Bolshoy Andrey Vasilyevich Bolshoy, nicknamed Goryai (russian: Андрей Васильевич Большой) (14 August 1446 – 6 November 1493), was the third son of Vasili II of Russia who transformed his capital in Uglich into a major centre of ...
and Boris of Volotsk, who began intriguing with Casimir. This internal conflict may have influenced Akhmed's decision to attack.


Campaign

In late May news of the pending invasion reached Moscow. Nesin says it was the largest Tatar army in the fifteenth century. One faction wanted to flee north, but was overruled. In June Ivan sent troops south to the Oka: to
Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow— T ...
under his son
Ivan the Young Ivan Ivanovich (also known as, Ivan the Young, Ioann Ioannovich and Ivan Molodoy) (''Иван Иванович'', ''Иоанн Иоаннович'', ''Иван Молодой'' in Russian) (15 February 1458 – 6 March 1490), was the eldest son an ...
, to
Tarusa Tarusa (russian: Тару́са), also known as Tarussa (), is a town and the administrative center of Tarussky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River, northeast of Kaluga, the administrative center of the ...
under his brother Andrey the Less and Ivan himself to
Kolomna Kolomna ( rus, Колóмна, p=kɐˈlomnə) is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Populati ...
. Tatar scouting parties soon appeared south of the Oka. Russian outposts reported that Akhmed was tending northwest so Russian troops were moved west toward
Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
. Forces from Tver moved toward the Ugra. Around 30 September (date uncertain) Ivan returned to Moscow to meet with his bishops and boyars and major decisions were made. The quarrel with his brothers was settled and their troops began moving toward the Oka. The state treasury and royal family were moved north to Beloozero and some cities were evacuated. Vasily Nozdrovaty and the exiled Crimean khan
Nur Devlet Nur Devlet ( crh, Nur Devlet, نور دولت), was a ''khan'' of the Crimean Khanate (1466–1467, 1467–1469 and 1475–1476) and the son of Hacı I Giray, the founder of Crimean Khanate. Outline: In 1466 the first Crimean khan di ...
were sent east down the Oka and Volga to attack Akhmed in the rear. Meanwhile, Akhmed had moved northward between the upper Don and Oka and at an uncertain date made camp at Vorotynsk just south of the Ugra-Oka junction on the west side of the Oka. Here he waited for Casimir, who never came. Casimir was tied down fighting the Crimeans in Podolia, but he may have had other reasons. On 3 October Ivan moved to Kremenskoye (then called 'Kremenets' ) to watch the front. Nesin gives the Russian front as 60 versts (kilometers), but does not specify its start and end points. On 6–8 October Akhmed moved his troops up to the Ugra. Fighting began at one o'clock on the eighth and continued for almost four days. All attempts to cross the river failed, largely because of Russian firearms and because the river was wide enough to make Tatar arrows ineffective. The battlefield extended five kilometers along the Ugra from its mouth westward. Akhmed withdrew two versts (kilometers) south to a place called Luza (location?). He then tried to secretly move his troops to a place called 'Opakhov', but his movement was detected and the crossing blocked. Ivan began negotiations with Akhmed which led nowhere but gave Ivan time to bring up more troops. Both sides spent the next month watching each other across the river, this being the standoff proper. It was getting late in the season and both sides knew that once the river froze solid it would no longer be a barrier. Akhmed could concentrate his forces and break the thin Russian line at any point. Ivan's best plan was to pull back and concentrate his force. On 26 October Ivan began moving troops from the Ugra northeast to Kremenskoye and then east to
Borovsk Borovsk (russian: Бо́ровск) is a town and the administrative center of Borovsky District of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Protva River just south from the oblast's border with Moscow Oblast. Population: 12,000 (1969). History ...
. Here he had a good defensive position to protect Moscow and could strike in any direction if Akhmed chose to advance. Instead of advancing, on 8 November Akhmed began to withdraw. News of the retreat reached Ivan on 11 November. On his retreat, Akhmed raided 12 Lithuanian towns, including Mtsensk. His son Murtaza raided some villages south of the Oka until the Russians drove him off. On 28 November Ivan returned to Moscow. In January 1481 Akhmed was killed by
Ibak Khan Ibak Khan (died 1495) was a Shaybanid khan of Sibir about whom the sources are contradictory. He is also called Abak, Ivak, Ibaq, Khan of Tyumen, and Said Ibrakhim Khan(?). With the breakup of the Golden Horde the regional powers were the Nogais ...
.


Reasons for Akhmed's withdrawal

Karamzin wrote "It should have been an odd image: two armies ran away from each other, not pursued by anyone", but it is now clear that the two withdrawals were independent. Ivan's motive is clear, but Akhmed's motives are a matter of guesswork.See Nesin in sources. Casimir's failure to appear is clearly important. Nesin thinks that a major factor was the end of Ivan's quarrel with his brothers and the resulting additional troops. The impending Russian winter was a consideration. The longer the standoff lasted the more troops Ivan could bring up while Akhmed's reserves were few and far away. The Tatar horses, and the sheep they drove with them for food, gradually consumed the local fodder. There are reports of disease in his army. Akhmed may have thought Ivan's withdrawal was a ruse to draw him into an ambush, a common steppe tactic. Even if there were no ambush, he would have to fight an army in a prepared position, or try to bypass it. The Tatars preferred hit-and-run raids and Akhmed may not have wished to attack a concentrated army. The sources do not explain why he did not try to outflank the Russian line by moving west. His wise, but seemingly cowardly, withdrawal probably contributed to his death a few months later.


Results

On 6 January 1481, Akhmat Khan was killed in a clash with the Nogais under
Ibak Khan Ibak Khan (died 1495) was a Shaybanid khan of Sibir about whom the sources are contradictory. He is also called Abak, Ivak, Ibaq, Khan of Tyumen, and Said Ibrakhim Khan(?). With the breakup of the Golden Horde the regional powers were the Nogais ...
, a princeling from the Khanate of Sibir. In 1502, Crimea destroyed the Great Horde as an organization thereby removing the buffer between Russia and Crimea and leading to a series of Russo-Crimean wars that lasted until 1784. In national history, the Ugra Standoff is taken as the end of the so-called "Tatar Yoke". Modern writers are more skeptical and see it as an important landmark in the gradual expansion of Russia and the gradual decline of the Tartar states that succeeded the Mongol Empire. Perhaps the most important result of the Russo-Crimean alliance was its effect on Lithuania. In 1480–1515, Muscovy (Russia) expanded out of its Oka-Volga cradle west to Smolensk and southwest across the Ugra and down the west side of the Oka as far as Novgorod-Seversky.


See also

*
Battle of Kulikovo The Battle of Kulikovo (russian: Мамаево побоище, Донское побоище, Куликовская битва, битва на Куликовом поле) was fought between the armies of the Golden Horde, under the command ...
*
Battle of Molodi The Battle of Molodi (Russian: Би́тва при Мóлодях) was one of the key battles of Ivan the Terrible's reign. It was fought near the village of Molodi, south of Moscow, in July–August 1572 between the 40,000–60,000-strong'' ...


Sources and footnotes

*Nesin, M.K. On the Reasons for the Withdrawal of Tatar Troops after the Ugra Standoff, 2015, in Russian: http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Nesin_05.pdf (avoid further links to milhist.info which is not secure)


Further reading

* *{{cite book , title=Medieval Russia: 980–1584 , last=Martin , first=Janet , year=1995 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , location=New York , isbn=0521362768 Conflicts in 1480 Wars involving the Golden Horde 15th century in the Grand Duchy of Moscow