Battle of Blue Waters
| Battle of Blue Waters | |||||||||
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 2012 painting by Artur Orlonov (Ukrainian: Артур Орльонов) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Grand Duchy of Lithuania
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 Golden Horde
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Algirdas Fyodor Koriatovych |
Kutlug Bey Hacı Bey Demetrius |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 20,000–25,000 | 10,000–20,000 | ||||||||
The Battle of Blue Waters (Lithuanian: Mūšis prie Mėlynųjų Vandenų, Belarusian: Бітва на Сініх Водах, Ukrainian: Битва на Синіх Водах) was a battle fought at some time in autumn 1362 or 1363 on the shores of the Synjucha River, left tributary of the Southern Bug, between the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Golden Horde. The Lithuanians won a decisive victory and finalized their conquest of the Principality of Kiev.
After the death of its ruler Berdi Beg Khan in 1359 the Golden Horde experienced a series of succession disputes and wars that lasted two decades (1359–81). The Horde began fracturing into separate districts (ulus). Taking advantage of internal disorder within the Horde, Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania organized a campaign into Tatar lands. He aimed to secure and expand southern territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, particularly the Principality of Kiev. Kiev had already come under semi-Lithuanian control after the Battle on the Irpin River in early 1320s, but still paid tribute to the Horde.
In 1362 or 1363, Algirdas marched between lower Dnieper and Southern Bug. First, Algirdas captured remaining territories of the Principality of Chernigov – the bulk of the territory, including the capital in Bryansk, fell under Lithuanian control around 1357–1358. The Lithuanians then attacked Korshev (Коршов), an unidentified fortress located in the upper reaches of the Bystraya Sosna River, tributary of the Don River. It is believed that Algirdas further conquered territories of the former Principality of Pereslavl. The area belonged to Crimean ulus which was engaged in a campaign against New Sarai and could not organize effective resistance. In autumn, the Lithuanian army crossed the Don River into Podolia. Three Tatar beys of Podolia gathered an army to resist the invasion. It is believed that the armies met at present-day Torhovytsia (Ukrainian: Торговиці). At the time the town was known as Yabgu in Turkic, or viceroy, regent town, and Sinie Vody in Russian, or Blue Waters.
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Wikipedia