Russian historiography This list of Russian historians includes the famous historians, as well as archaeologists, paleographers, genealogists and other representatives of auxiliary historical disciplines from the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire a ...

the term Upper Oka Principalities (russian: Верховские княжества - literally: "Upper Principalities") traditionally applies to about a dozen tiny and ephemeral polities situated along the upper course of 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 ...

at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. Nowadays, the areas concerned lie within the bounds of the

Tula Oblast Tula Oblast (russian: Ту́льская о́бласть, ''Tulskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an Oblasts of Russia, oblast) of Russia. It is geographically in the European Russia region of the country and is p ...

and

Kaluga Oblast Kaluga Oblast (russian: Калу́жская о́бласть, translit=Kaluzhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kaluga. The 2021 Russian Census found a population of 1,069,904. G ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Following the

Mongol invasion of Russia The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

of 1223-1240, the formerly mighty

Principality of Chernigov The Principality of Chernigov ( orv, Чєрниговскоє кънѧжьство; uk, Чернігівське князівство; russian: Черниговское княжество) was one of the largest and most powerful states within ...

gradually degenerated to a point where the descendants of

Mikhail of Chernigov Saint Michael of Chernigov (russian: Михаи́л Черни́говский, uk, Миха́йло Все́володович Чернігівський) or Mikhail Vsevolodovich (russian: Михаил Всеволодович, uk, Михай� ...

(c. 1185 – 1246) ruled dozens of quasi-sovereign entities. As the principalities were wedged in between the ever-expanding

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

to the west and the nascent

Grand Duchy of Muscovy The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...

to the north, their rulers were constricted to continually fluctuate between these two major powers as buffer states. By the end of the 14th century, they were obliged to pay annual tribute to Lithuania. The strengthening alliance of Lithuanian rulers with

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

caused shifts in the balance of power in the region. Most Orthodox rulers of the Upper Principalities, therefore, started to look to Moscow for protection against Lithuanian expansionism. Towards the end of the 15th century, most of these princelings had moved to the Muscovite court. In 1494 Lithuania finally renounced her claims to the region.

The list of principalities (in order of seniority)

Odoyev Odoyev (Russian: ''Одоев'') is an urban settlement (Russian: ''рабочий посёлок'') since 1959, in the west of Tula Oblast, Russia, the administrative center of Odoyevsky District. It sits on the left bank of the Upa river, a rig ...

and

Novosil Novosil (russian: Новоси́ль) is a town and the administrative center of Novosilsky District in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Zusha River east of Oryol, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: Histo ...

- the seats of the , retained by them as an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

until the

Oprichnina The oprichnina (russian: опри́чнина, ) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repression of the boyars (Russian aristocrats), including public executions and ...

of 1565-1572 *

Belyov Belyov (russian: Белёв) is a town and the administrative center of Belyovsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River. Population: 13,180 (2018); History As is the case with many other towns in the former Up ...

- the seat of Princes Belyovsky (1468-1588) * Vorotynsk - the seat of Princes

Vorotynsky Vorotynsky was one of the most eminent Rurikid princely houses of Muscovite Russia. Their lands lay principally in the Upper Oka region and comprised the towns of Peremyshl and Vorotynsk as well as parts (дольницы) of Novosil and Odoyev ...

, retained by them as an

until the

Mosalsk Mosalsk (russian: Моса́льск) is a town and the administrative center of Mosalsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located west of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History First attested in 1231 as Masalsk ...

- the seat of Princes Mosalsky * Zvenigorod-on-the-Oka - the seat of Princes Zvenigorodsky and Nozdrevaty *

Karachev Karachev (russian: Карачев) is an ancient town and the administrative center of Karachevsky District in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Population: History First chronicled in 1146, it was the capital of one of the Upper Oka Principalities in t ...

- the seat of Princes Khotetovsky *

Kozelsk Kozelsk (russian: Козе́льск) is a town and the administrative center of Kozelsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Zhizdra River (Oka's tributary), southwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Populatio ...

and Peremyshl - the seats of Princes

Gorchakov Gorchakov, or Gortchakoff (russian: Горчако́в), is a Russian princely family of Rurikid stock that is descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl, Russia. Aleksey Gorchakov The family first achieved prominence during the reign of ...

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 ...

and Meshchevsk (now

Meshchovsk Meshchovsk (russian: Мещо́вск) is a town and the administrative center of Meshchovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Tureya River southwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It ...

) - the seats of Princes Mezetsky with their cadet branches of Teterin,

Shcherbatov Prince Mikhailo Mikhailovich Shcherbatov (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Щерба́тов; 22 July 1733 – 12 December 1790) was a leading ideologue and exponent of the Russian Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment, on the par wit ...

Boryatino Boryatino (russian: Борятино) is a rural locality (a village) in Kletnyansky District, Bryansk Oblast Bryansk Oblast (russian: Бря́нская о́бласть, ''Bryanskaya oblast''), also known as Bryanshchina (russian: Брянщи ...

- the seat of Princes Boryatinsky * Obolensk - the seat of Princes

Obolensky {{For, the rural localities in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, Obolenskoye The House of Obolensky (russian: Оболенский) is the name of a princely Russian family of the Rurik dynasty. The family of aristocrats mostly fled Russia in 1917 during the ...

with their cadet branches of

Repnin The House of Repnin (russian: Репнин), the name of an old Russian princely family of Rurikid stock. The family traces its name to Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Obolensky (+1523), nicknamed ''Repnya'', i.e., "bad porridge". Like other Princes Ob ...

Lykov Lykov (russian: Лыков) is a Russian male surname, its feminine counterpart is Lykova. It may refer to: *Lykov family of Russian Old Believers *Agafia Lykova (born 1944), Russian Old Believer, member of Lykov family *Maxim Lykov (born 1987), Ru ...

Dolgorukov The House of Dolgorukov () is a princely Russian family of Rurikid stock. They are a cadet branch of the Obolenskiy family (until 1494 the rulers of Obolensk, one of the Upper Oka Principalities) and as such claiming patrilineal descent from ...

, etc.

References

*Lubawski M.K. Regional Division and Local Administration in the Lithuanian-Russian State. Moscow, 1892. *Bazilewicz K.V. Foreign Affairs of the Russian Centralized State. Moscow, 1952. {{coord missing, Russia Historical regions in Russia Former principalities States and territories established in the 14th century Former Slavic countries