Russia and the Mongol Yoke: How Bad Was It?

Introduction: The Mongol Invasion and Its Legacy

The Mongol invasion forever changed the culture of Russia. It brought to an end the period known as the Kievan Rus as the Mongols took control and "captured, sacked, and destroyed Kiev, the symbolic center of Kievan Russia."¹ The Mongol invasion certainly changed Russia irrevocably: it is not simply that some of the Mongols' measures were oppressive in nature, but that the autocratic methods of control they employed were later adopted by Russian leaders, leading to the development of a form of government profoundly different from that of Russia's European neighbors. The "Mongol yoke" ironically produced what we now think of as distinctly "Russian culture."

Destruction of Democratic Institutions

Russia has long been criticized for its autocratic system of government in comparison to other nations of similar industrialized status. While this is often traced back to the czars, it is important to remember that before the Mongol invasion Russia had a somewhat democratic system of government. "Comprised of all free male citizens, the veche was a town assembly that met to discuss such matters as war and peace, law, and the invitation or expulsion of princes to the veche's respective town; all cities in Kievan Russia had a veche."² The veche provided a popular, democratic forum in which people could air their concerns.

This system of localized control was completely destroyed by the Mongols, who exercised centralized authority over the cities they dominated. The Mongols created a hierarchical system of institutionalized bureaucracy to ensure that their empire was a profitable one. They ruled through military and civilian leaders first known as basqaqi and later by darugi, respectively. Initially, "the basqaqi were given the responsibility of directing the activities of rulers in the areas that were resistant or had challenged Mongol authority," and after resistance was contained they were replaced by darugi, who "were stationed in Sarai, the old capital of the Golden Horde located not far from present-day Volgograd."³

Taxation, the Census, and the Roots of Serfdom

The reason for this centralized control was partly to establish a census, which further supported the creation of a system of institutionalized central government authority. "The census served as the primary purpose for conscription as well as for taxation. This practice was carried on by Moscow after it stopped acknowledging the Horde in 1480. The practice fascinated foreign visitors to Russia, for whom large-scale censuses were still unknown."⁴ Even after the Mongols were defeated, following more than two and a half centuries of occupation, the census was maintained by the czars as a useful means of extracting taxes on a regular basis from both the poor and the rich.⁵

Without the Mongols, it is unlikely that the infamous Russian system of serf labor would have developed. Initially, serfdom was designed to protect peasants from the Mongols, but it gradually became a system of enrichment for the aristocrats rather than a mutually beneficial arrangement between the haves and have-nots of Russia. The taxation and census policies "fell particularly heavily on the Russian peasantry, who had to yield up their crops and labor to both their own princes and the Mongol overlords. Impoverished and ever fearful of the lightning raids of Mongol marauders, the peasants fled to remote areas or became, in effect, the serfs of the Russian ruling class in return for protection."⁶ In contrast to Western Europe, which largely did away with feudalism after the Middle Ages, the Russian system of serfdom would persist well into the mid-nineteenth century, and the idea that a powerful, patriarchal leader was a good thing for the peasants persisted even afterward, as manifested in the concept of the "little father czar."

Conclusion: The Enduring Shadow of the Mongol Yoke

Even after the end of Mongol rule, their influence was felt. Although the Mongol yoke was no more, Russians would still feel the yoke of autocracy, thanks to a newly empowered landed aristocracy that would benefit from serf labor. The Mongol system of census-based taxation made revenue collection easy for the state and enabled it to remain financially solvent with relative ease. The lack of exposure to pluralistic Enlightenment ideas bolstered both the Russian Orthodox Church and popular beliefs in superstition and the unquestioned right of the monarchy to rule. It also gave Russia a unique culture that has been characterized as "Tartar" rather than European. Without the Mongol legacy, Russia as we know it would not exist.