This Week in History recalls memorable and decisive events and personalities of the past.
21st December 1237 – The city of Ryazan is sacked by the Mongol army of Batu Khan
In the early 13th century, the Mongols, after conquering parts of China and Central Asia, decided to unite the entirety of the Eurasian steppe and sent their armies west to subdue the last of the peoples of the steppe who were not yet subject to the Mongol Empire.
These people, the Volga-Bulgars, The Alans, and the Cumans, were defeated each in turn and either absorbed into the mighty Mongol host or sent fleeing into the west to seek refuge from the more settled peoples of Europe.
During this time, Eastern Europe was dominated by a number of principalities, which had once been unified as part of the Kievan Rus, but had for the last 100 years been politically divided amongst themselves. The most important of these principalities were Galicia–Volhynia, Vladimir-Suzdal, The republic of Novgorod, Kyiv, Smolensk, Rostov and Ryazan. These principalities were spread across the modern-day nations of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
The first conflict between the Rus and the Mongols was the battle of Kalka River in 1223, when a coalition of Rus princes had united with the remnants of the Cuman peoples to fight the Mongols and had been soundly defeated.
In 1237, the Mongol armies returned, being led by one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan. Batu had been ordered to conquer the western nations by the Great Khan Ögedei.
The Mongol armies were preceded by ambassadors who demanded that the princes of the Rus submit to the rule of the Mongols. This was refused, but the ambassadors were sent away with gifts as a show of good will, as the Rus princes were hoping to avoid war. This was ignored by the Mongols who crossed the Volga river with an army of 40 000 men and split into several groups.
The main force headed towards the city of Ryazan, seat of a principality of the same name. The prince of Ryazan, Yuriy Igorevich, sent urgent requests for help to his neighbour, the prince of Vladimir, but none was forthcoming.
On 16 December 1237, the army of Ryazan was smashed by the Mongols whilst crossing the Voronezh River and the city was quickly put under siege thereafter.
The initial Mongol assault was pushed back by the townsfolk, but then the Mongols brought up catapults to destroy the walls of the city.
On 21 December, the Mongol armies stormed the now reduced walls of the city and carried out a slaughter of the entire population, including its prince. A near contemporary described the aftermath of the massacre saying, “There was none left to groan and cry”.
The city was completely destroyed, and would have to be re-founded many years later.
Batu’s invasion continued, and three years later his army would raze Kyiv, slaughtering almost all its inhabitants.
By 1242, all the Rus princes were forced to submit to the Mongols and would remain under Mongol dominion until 1480.
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