Tatar invasion

The Mongol invasion of Europe from the east took place over the course of three centuries, from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.

The terms Tatars or Tartars are applied to nomadic Mongolic peoples who, themselves, were conquered by Mongols and incorporated into their horde. They were mainly composed of Kipchaks-Cuman people.

Mongol-Tatar Golden Horde forces led by Batu Khan, (a grandson of Genghis Khan), began attacking Europe in 1223, starting with Cumans, Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus. They destroyed many Rus cities including Kiev,Vladimir and Moscow in the process, sparing Novgorod and Pskov however. They originally planned to continue all the way to the shores of the "Great Sea" (Atlantic Ocean). However, upon learning of the death of Ögedei Khan (third son of Genghis Khan, uncle of Batu Khan) in 1241 they returned eastwards to their steppe homelands. This, it could be argued, saved the rest of Europe from suffering the catastrophes that befell the armies and towns of Poland and Hungary, although over-stretched lines of communication and the lack of vast open tracts of pasture land might well have proved the undoing of such a venture.

The Tatars succeeded in establishing control over Rus principalities. It included both pillaging and bloody massacres in Russian cities.

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