Moscow was founded around 1145 - and the Mongols came at around 1220 conquering the diverse Kieven Rus principalities and sacked Kiev at around 1240.
Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy - later Grand Duke, called upon his brother in 1147, the prince of the Novgorod-Severski to "come to me, brother, to Moscow."
Moscow escaped the Mongol invasion unscathed and it grew stronger afterwards as a new capital of Rus' principalities, while Kiev was completely devastated, which was left with only a few thousand survivors. Modern Ukraine was founded by the Cossacks, who were Tatarized Ukrainian farmers in eastern Ukraine that was occupied by Tatars.
The influence of the Mongol invasion on the territories was uneven.
[3] Colin McEvedy estimates the population dropped from 7.5 million prior to the invasion to seven million afterwards.
[21] Centres such as
Kiev took centuries to rebuild and recover from the devastation of the initial attack. The
Novgorod Republic continued to prosper, and a new entity, the
Principality of Moscow, began to flourish under the Mongols.
[3]
Moscow's eventual dominance in northeastern Rus' was in large part attributable to the Mongols.
[3] Moscow drew people and wealth, developed trade links, and established an autocratic political system which exerted a powerful influence on Russian society.
[3] After the prince of
Tver led
an uprising in 1327, the rival prince
Ivan I of Moscow joined the Mongols in crushing Tver and devastating its lands. By doing so, he eliminated his rival, allowed the
Russian Orthodox Church to move its headquarters to Moscow, and was granted the title of
Grand Prince by the Mongols.
[22][23]
As such, the Muscovite prince became the chief intermediary between the Mongol overlords and the Russian princes, which paid further dividends for Moscow's rulers.
[23] In the 14th century, the Muscovite princes began "gathering Russian lands" to increase its population and wealth. While the Mongols often raided other territories, they tended to respect the lands controlled by their principal collaborator. This, in turn, attracted nobles and their servants who sought to settle in the relatively secure and peaceful lands of Moscow.
[23] Although a Russian army defeated the
Golden Horde at the
Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, the Mongol domination of Russian-inhabited territories, with the requisite demands of tribute, continued until the
Great Stand on the Ugra River in 1480.
[22][23]
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