Edigey's campaign in Moscow

After the defeat of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh by the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, the Principality of Moscow stopped paying the annual tribute to the Golden Horde ( 1395 ).

After the defeat of Vytautas’s troops by the protege of Tamerlane Edigei ( 1399 ) and the loss of Smolensk by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the second round of growth of Polish influence in the Lithuanian-Russian lands took place, framed by the Vilnius-Radomsky Union ( 1401 ). Smolensk was returned by Vitovt in 1404 with the help of Polish troops. Dissatisfaction with the anti-Polish part of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was expressed, in particular, in the departure of Svidrigailo Olgerdovich to Moscow service. He received from Vasily Dmitrievich Vladimir , Pereslavl-Zalessky , Yuryev-Polsky and others to feed the city. The strengthening of the Moscow principality was also reflected in the fact that the brother-governor in Novgorod was taken by the brother of Vasily Konstantin . In the same 1408, Jagiello and Vytautas opposed Vasily, whom Edigey promised military assistance. However, no battle ensued and peace was concluded, according to which Vasily pledged to stop supporting Svidrigail and recognized Smolensk and the Verkhovian principalities as Lithuanian possessions. In the same year, Ediguay failed to establish control over Ryazan through his protege Ivan Pronsky . Not having achieved mutual weakening of Moscow and Vilna through diplomatic means ^[1] , Edigey began his own campaign against Moscow.

There were four princes in the Horde army, who served as military leaders, and several prominent Horde emirs . The general management was carried out by Edigey himself.

The offensive of the Tatars came as a surprise to Prince of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich . To defend the capital, he left his uncle Vladimir the Brave , and himself with his wife and children left for Kostroma (where, according to some explanations, he planned to assemble an army). Following the prince, many residents left Moscow, the remaining panic seized.

Edigheus troops destroyed everything in its path. Separate units were sent to capture Gorodets and Nizhny Novgorod . The main Tatar units approached Moscow on November 30. Residents burned a posad and started shooting at the besiegers. Because of this, the Tatars did not dare to storm the stone fortifications of Moscow and settled down at some distance from the walls. Edigheus sent troops to rob the neighborhood of the capital and began a siege. He sent about 30,000 soldiers in pursuit of Prince Vasily, but they soon returned, not finding him.

During the siege, Edigei sent a message to the Grand Duke of Tver, Ivan Mikhailovich , demanding that he bring troops and artillery under the walls of Moscow, but he refused. While the main army was standing under the walls of Moscow, individual detachments burned many large and small cities and villages. Among them are Rostov the Great , Pereslavl Zalessky , Dmitrov , Kolomna , Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets and others.

After three weeks of siege, Edigei learned from the Horde Khan Bulat-Saltan that the son of Timur-Kutlug , Timur, had attacked him. As a result, he had to hastily retreat from the Russian capital. With Muscovites, he took a levy of 3,000 rubles, burned the Trinity Monastery and on the return trip - Ryazan .

The ruin of cities, including those feeding by Svidrigail, undermined the basis of Moscow-Lithuanian cooperation under the auspices of Moscow ^[1] (Svidrigailo "tired of the Edigeev Tatars" and returned to Lithuania). The label for the Nizhny Novgorod reign was received from Edigey Daniil Borisovich , a descendant of the Nizhny Novgorod princes.

"The Tale of the Invasion of Edigheus" for the first time reinterprets the relationship with the Horde. Earlier in literary monuments, the Horde rati, all the troubles of the inter-princely strife were explained by "God's wrath." In The Tale ... they are explained by the evil will of the Horde . ^[one]

• The invasion of Tokhtamysh

• Shirokorad A. B. Russia and the Horde. - M .: Veche, 2004 .-- 496 p. - ISBN 5-9533-0274-6 .

• The campaign of Edigey in Moscow (Russian) . Date of treatment March 28, 2015.
• The legend of the invasion of Edigheus who ravaged Moscow land