Great standing on the Ugra river

Great stand on the Ugra river

Miniature in Russian chronicle, 16th century

Date	October 8, 1480
Location	Ugra River banks (now in Kaluga Oblast, Russia)
Result	Decisive Russian victory End of Russian principalities' tribute to the Golden Horde

Belligerents

Grand Duchy of Moscow

Great Horde

Commanders and leaders

Ivan III of Russia
Ivan Molodoy
Andrey Menshoy

Akhmat Khan

The Great Stand on the Ugra river (Великое cтояние на реке Угре in Russian, also Угорщина (Ugorschina in English, derived from Ugra) was a standoff between the forces of Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Prince Ivan III of Muscovy in 1480, which ended when the Tatars departed without conflict. It is seen in Russian historiography as the end of Tatar rule over Moscow.

The main Russian defense line ran along the east-flowing Oka River from Nizhny Novgorod in the east to Kaluga in the west. At Kaluga the east-flowing Ugra River extends this line westward. On October 8, 1480 Akhmat Khan planned to bypass the Oka river from the west and thus avoid Ivan's regiments which were located in Kolomna, Serpukhov and Tarusa. This would allow Akhmat Khan to unite his army with his ally, the Polish king Casimir. Akhmat Khan's forces approached the Ugra river. At the Ugra, Akhmat Khan was met by the Russian army under the joint command of Ivan Molodoy (Ivan Junior, Ivan's son) and Andrey Menshoy (Andrey Smaller One, Ivan's brother). Akhmat's attempt to cross the Ugra river was rebuffed in a 4-day battle. The Muscovite chronicle says the Russians succeeded through the use of firearms, of which the Tatars had none.

After this battle, Akhmat, clearly dispirited by the Russians' firearms, retreated to the town of Vorotynsk, where he decided to wait for the army of Polish king Casimir IV. Ivan III moved his army to Kremenets and started to negotiate with the khan, in an attempt to buy some time to restore his relations with his rebellious brothers (hence, the Great standing on the Ugra river). It took Ivan III four days (from September 30 to October 3) to reconcile with his brothers and another 17 days (until October 20) for his brothers' armies to arrive at Kremenets. Unlike Dmitry Donskoy in a similar situation one hundred years before, Ivan decided not to cross the river, but to keep on his shore and bide his time.

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