Matvey Katkov on Vesti.FM: “The Great Stand on the Ugra River should not be examined through the prism of national confrontation”

In the history of Russia, the Great Stand on the Ugra River that took place in 1480 is traditionally considered as the end of the Great Horde’s rule, but this episode should not be examined in the context of a national confrontation, an analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza, Matvey Katkov said in the National Question program on Vesti.FM.

According to the expert, this is about the political processes that took place on the territory of the former Great Horde. "The military conflict between the Grand Prince of Muscovy Ivan III and Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde should not be considered as a national stand-off. First, we have repeatedly noted in previous episodes of the program that the modern concepts of ‘people’ and ‘nation’ are not completely applicable to the historical past. And secondly, we should not forget that by the end of the 15th century, the Golden Horde broke up, the sovereign Crimean and Astrakhan Khanates and the Nogai Horde separated from the once-powerful Tatar state. And it is important to emphasize that these Khanates were Tatar. And the power of the Golden Horde had already faded, and hence appears the name of the Great Horde, the historian recalled.

According to him, the khans of the Great Horde considered themselves the legitimate rulers of all territories previously included in the Jochi ulus, but by 1480, the state of Genghis Khan’s descendants had already fallen into deep decline. Moreover, the expert emphasized that the decline of the Great Horde did not mean the decline of the Tatar world as a whole. “The Tatar khanates in Crimea and Astrakhan, as well as the Nogai Horde, which was located on the territory of modern Kazakhstan, became new regional centers of political power. These were sovereign Tatar khanates, each of them pursued its own independent policy. In particular, the Crimean khans supported Ivan III in his fight against Khan Akhmat, and shortly before the campaign to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Khan Akhmat made several invasions of Crimea. Moreover, later the Great Horde itself became a vassal of the Crimean Khanate, " Niemann historian.

“We should not forget that belonging to the Genghis Khan family in the future history of Russia was always perceived as a great honor. Many boyar families in the 16-17th centuries tried to prove that among their ancestors, there were representatives of the Tatar-Mongol nobility. Moreover, Ivan the Terrible, grandson of Ivan III, also explained his claims to Siberia by the fact that the Russian kingdom is the heir to the empire of Genghis Khan, " the historian said.

According to the expert, The Great Stand on the Ugra River needs tedious examination. “One can examine the event from the point of view of geopolitics and reflect on what reasons led to the decline of Genghis Khan’s heirs' state, and scattered Russian principalities, on the contrary, to unite and strengthen. One can examine the socio-economic development. By the end of the 15th century, with the development of technology, the appearance of the first manufactories and firearms,  a definite advantage of settled agriculture over the nomadic way of life became obvious. But these events should not be examined from the perspective of the national question. The defeat of Khan Akhmat did not mean the collapse of the Tatar world as a whole, and the victory of Ivan III was primarily of a political character, allowing the Grand Duchy of Moscow to finally establish itself as a collector of Russian lands. We should also mention, that the very concept of ‘people’ in the modern sense is not entirely correct in relation to the historical past, " Matvey Katkov concluded.