How Mom died. The meaning of the word mamai in a brief biographical encyclopedia
Name: Mamai
Years of life: OK. 1335 - 1380
State: Golden Horde
Field of activity: Army, politics
Greatest achievement: Not being a descendant of Genghis Khan, he became the ruler of part of the Golden Horde. Led the Mongol army in the Battle of Kulikovo
The name Mamaia is widely known in Rus'. How did it happen that the temnik managed to become not only the actual ruler of the Golden Horde within twenty years, but also entered into world history through your work? Mamai was born in Cafe, presumably in 1335, belonged to the Mongolian family of Kiyats. By origin, he could not be a khan - only Genghisides occupied the throne. But he managed to become the son-in-law of the last of the Batuids.
Viceroy Mamai
In the sixties of the fourteenth century, two very important events- Khan appointed him governor of the Northern Black Sea region. At that time, he was already married to the Khan's daughter, which undoubtedly made his appointments expected and logical.
In 1359, the eighth Khan of the Golden Horde, Muhammad Berdibek Khan, was killed as a result of the seizure of power by Kulpa, a self-proclaimed Khan, his distant relative. After the death of the father-in-law of the temnik, the twenty years began, which went down in world history as "". Mamai did not stay away from these events - he unleashed a war against the new ruler. Mamai controlled the western part of the state. He himself could not sit on the throne due to insufficiently noble origin. He needed a complaisant and weak-willed khan who would allow him to become the de facto ruler. In 1361, his choice falls on Abdullah from the Batuid family, a relative of the late ruler, whom he appoints as the ruler of the White Horde. But other khans began to challenge this decision, presenting their claims to the Khan's Golden Horde throne. For two decades, a total of 9 khans claimed it.
Mamai understood that in the struggle for the khanate he needed allies in international politics. And so he began to establish ties with Western countries.
Mamai and the Golden Horde
Abdullah Khan dies in 1370. There are different versions about his death, including a violent death. The next khan was, according to some versions, the wife of the temnik herself. Archaeologists even find minted gold coins with her image. But no matter how satisfied Mamai was with the candidacy of his wife, Tulunbek Khanum, he understood that a male Khan Chingizid should be at the head of the horde. The fate of this woman, Mamai's wife, subsequently developed tragically. After the death of Mamai, she was married to strengthen the authority of his power, but a few years later she was executed by him on suspicion of conspiracy.
In 1372, the eight-year-old Mohammed Sultan was proclaimed khan. Ten years later, he died in, but at that time he was quite convenient for Mamai as a well-managed ruler.
But everything was not easy with the legality of Mohammed's rights - according to Yassa, the law, the khans proclaimed by Mamai, were illegal.
Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo
After the murder of his father, Tokhtamysh fled under protection. And he used the fugitive Genghisides to gain control over the Horde. Several times the army of Timur and Tokhtamysh tried to seize the throne, but failed each time. Circumstances helped - in 1380, in the Battle of Kulikovo, Mamai not only was defeated, but Bulak Khan, proclaimed a temnik, died in this battle. This did not break Mamai, but circumstances were still against him.
An attempt to hide in the Crimea under the protection of the Genoese, in his native Kafa, failed - he was not allowed into the city. Mamai was soon killed by mercenaries sent by Tokhtamysh. The most honorable funeral was arranged for the outstanding and famous temnik.
Regarding the most fatal event in the life of Mamai - the Battle of Kulikovo - historians have two versions. Some, led by L. Gumilyov, N. Karamzin, G. Vernadsky, believe that there was no battle, and the Tatars were more allies than oppressors. And it was this union that saved Rus' from disappearing as a state during a difficult period of civil strife.
Opponents of this group of scientists rely on the descriptions of the atrocities of the Tatars in Russian chronicles - mass executions, destruction of cities, murders. But most of the chronicles could have been edited much later - during the reign of Ivan III, for a political purpose, to please the current international situation- in particular, in connection with the aggravation of relations with Lithuanian principality, longtime allies of the Mongols.
Both versions have the right to life, but perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.
His name entered everyday culture at the level of sayings: "how Mamai passed." One of the most famous pages of history is connected with it - the Battle of Kulikovo. He played secret political games with Lithuanians and Genoese. Beklyarbek of the Golden Horde Mamai.
Origin
Khan Mamai became the prototype of the famous character of Ukrainian folk culture - the Cossack knight (knight) Mamai. Modern Ukrainian reformist historians even seriously write about the Ukrainian origin of the khan, and esotericists call the Cossack-Mamai "the cosmogonic personification of the Ukrainian people as a whole." For the first time in the everyday culture of the common people, it appeared rather late, in the middle of the 18th century, but it became so popular that it hung in every house next to the icons.
Mamai was half Polovtsian - Kipchak, half - Mongol. On his father, he is a descendant of Khan Hakopa from the Kiyat clan, and on his mother, from the clan of the Golden Horde temnik Mamai. Then it was a common name, meaning in Turkic Mohammed. He successfully married the daughter of the ruler of the Sarai - Khan Berdibek, who had previously killed his father and all the brothers, the Great Zamyatnya began in the Horde - a long period of civil strife. Berdibek himself was also killed, and the direct line of the Batuid dynasty on the main throne of the Horde was interrupted. Then the eastern descendants of Jochi began to lay claim to Saray. Under these conditions, Mamai captured the western part of the Horde and installed khans there - indirect heirs of the Batuid clan. He himself could not rule without being Genghisides. And here a big policy with the participation of Mamai unfolded.
“The talented and energetic temnik Mamai came from the Kiyat clan, hostile to Temujin and who lost the war in Mongolia back in the 12th century. Mamai revived the Black Sea power of the Polovtsians and Alans, and Tokhtamysh, heading the ancestors of the Kazakhs, continued the Dzhuchiev ulus. Mamai and Tokhtamysh were enemies." Lev Gumilyov.
Mamai vs Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh was an adherent of the old Horde order, striving to unite the splitting horde. In addition, he was a Chingizid and had uncontested rights to Sarai, as opposed to Mamai. Tokhtamysh's father was killed by the ruler of the White Horde, Urus Khan, but after the death of the latter, the nobility there refused to obey his descendants and called Tokhtamysh. Tokhtamysh lost the internal war, but escaped after a decisive battle, having sailed across the wounded Syr Darya - to the possessions of Tamerlane. He said: "You, apparently, are a courageous person; go, return your khanate to yourself, and you will be my friend and ally." Tokhtamysh took the White Horde, received the Blue Horde - by right of inheritance, and moved on Mamai. Now everything depended on alliances formed in the West.
big politics
Since the Golden Horde weakened in strife, the Lithuanians began to strengthen in the territories formerly controlled by the Mongols. Kyiv became practically Lithuanian, Chernihiv and Severskaya were under the influence of Lithuania. Prince Olgerd was a militant anti-Orthodox, while the majority of the population in the expanded Lithuania was already Russian, and Moscow used this against the Lithuanians. However, other Russian princes, on the contrary, used Lithuania against Moscow - first of all, Suzdal and Novgorod. There was also a division according to Western politics in the Horde.
Mamai bet on Lithuania, and Tokhtamysh on Moscow. Mamai led a pro-Western line, because he needed money to fight Tokhtamysh. The Crimean Genoese promised to help with money in exchange for concessions for the extraction of furs in the north of Rus'. Mamai tried for a long time to persuade Moscow to fulfill the conditions of the Genoese in exchange for a label and other privileges. Both the Muscovites accepted. Metropolitan Alexy, who ruled de facto when Dmitry was a child, used Mamai to elevate, both legally and de facto, the Principality of Moscow. But in the end, Moscow turned its back on Mamai, and the so-called “great peace” took place. Not without the influence of Sergius of Radonezh, who said that there could be no business with the Latins (Genoese and Latins).
From the “Word on the Life and Repose of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, Tsar of Russia”: “Mamai, instigated by crafty advisers who adhered to the Christian faith, and themselves did the deeds of the wicked, said to his princes and nobles: “I will seize the Russian land, and destroy the Christian churches … Where there were churches, I’ll put murmurs here.”
Before the Battle of Kulikovo
Interesting events took place before the Battle of Kulikovo. Since Mamai hoped to conclude an alliance either with Moscow, and then with other principalities against Moscow, he often sent embassies to Rus'. To Ryazan, Tver, Moscow itself, etc. These embassies were often mistreated. This happened in Nizhny Novgorod (then under the reign of the Suzdalians), where the Suzdal Bishop Dionysius was sitting. He raised the townspeople against the Tatar embassy. As Lev Gumilyov writes, “all the Tatars were killed in the most cruel way: they were stripped naked, released onto the ice of the Volga and poisoned by dogs.” Mamai overtook the drunken Suzdal troops on the Pyana River and cut them, repeating the same thing a little later in Nizhny. On adrenaline, Mamai decided to continue moving towards Moscow, but the troops of Mamaisky Murza Begich were defeated on the Vozha River. After that, the main open clash between Mamai and Moscow became inevitable.
The princes of Glinsky called themselves descendants of Mamai. According to their family legend, the descendants of Mamai served in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and supposedly the Glinskys descended from Mamai's son Mansur Kiyatovich. If so, then Mamai was the ancestor of Ivan IV the Terrible by his mother, Elena Glinskaya.
Doom
In the Battle of Kulikovo, about which we have written a lot, Mamai lost not only the army, but also legitimacy: the infant Khan Mohammed, who ruled de jure in Saray, was killed. Thus, Tokhtamysh almost did not have to fight in order to finish off the remnants of Mamai's army on the Kalka River - people themselves went over to a more legitimate ruler. Mamai went to the Genoese in Kafa (present-day Feodosia), but it is clear that they were no longer interested in him. There he was killed. Whether by the Genoese, or Tokhtamysh's scouts: this is not so important, since his fate was sealed, and his time was over.
Any child knows Mamaia as the Kulikovo antagonist, the main villain, and also the opponent of the bright Dmitry Ivanovich. But who is he? What is his fate? Who was he, who did he become? What he really is?
Mamai is a famous Khan of the Horde, who claimed his rights to the throne, although he did not have them. He was a great politician who lasted for twenty years in power. At the same time, he managed to play a huge role in the fate of Russia and the whole of Eastern Europe. Mamaia was born in a hereditary family known as the Kipchaks. Khan Hakob was his father, he brought up in Mamai all the best human qualities like endurance, strength, courage. In addition, he gave him good military training, which is why Mamai became a great commander and beklarbek under the young Khan Muhammad. In fact, only two people could have such a high title (the title of beklarbek) in the Golden Horde, and Mamai was one of them.
Mamai owned pretty large territories, but due to the growing power of Tokhtamysh, he soon lost almost all of his lands, with the exception of a couple of Polovtsian steppes - the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimea. There he remained the undivided master and lord over the army and supreme court, who led a cold and straightforward policy, distinguished by excellent prudence.
But let's move on to the battle that decided the fate of this great commander and khan, which crossed out all his policies, built by an intelligent and prudent person for twenty whole years; to the battle, which made him shamefully flee shamefully from the battlefield, which made him again afraid of the Russian troops and broke his spirit and the spirit of his army; to the battle, in which all his hired people and the Mongol-Tatars who remained loyal to him were killed. We are moving on to the Battle of Kulikovo, to the checkpoint that radically changed the fate of the great leader Mamai.
So, the Battle of Kulikovo was early in the morning, full of fog of fears and hopes, on September 8, 1380. It began with a duel between Chelubey from the side of the Mongol-Tatars and Peresvet from the side of the Russians, from which both heroes did not come out alive. Chelubey fell dead with his head towards Mamaev's army. It was Bad sign, very bad.
In the end, everything turned out, as the corpse of Chelubey foretold: Mamai's troops crushed Dmitry's advanced regiment, began to put pressure on the large regiment, but it was too large, so they did not begin to put pressure on the left flank. He succumbed to attacks and almost died, which would enable the Mongols to penetrate the rear of Dmitry's soldiers and chop them all from behind. But it was not there. Behind them appeared the Ambush Regiment, organized by Dmitry specifically for this occasion. The Mongols got scared and fled, panic began. Mamai also ran away from the battlefield. He sincerely thought that it was the Russians rising from the dead. Soon he showed up in the Crimea, where he was cut down by Tokhtamysh's mercenaries.
Mamai left a significant mark on history: it was under him that the famous Battle of Kulikovo took place. It was an ambiguous, but influential personality of his time. Consider who Mamai is, what he did for his country, what he became famous for.
Origin
Mamai was born around 1335. He came from the Kiyat clan (an ancient Turkic tribe, whose representative was Genghis Khan himself). Mamai married very favorably, taking as his wife Tulunbek, the daughter of Muhammad Berdibek (the eighth ruler of the Horde).
Berdibek died in 1359. This ended the reign of the Batuid dynasty. Mamai began the so-called "Great Jam" period, which lasted almost until his death. He tried to restore the dynasty, making only representatives of the clan khans. However, according to the law of the Golden Horde, they were impostors.
Ranks and positions
Answering the question of who Mamai is, one cannot ignore his rank and position. He ruled the troops of the Golden Horde from 1361 to 1380, was a military leader. The Russians called him temnik. This military rank the person who leads big group its army (approximately 10 thousand people). He did not have the title of khan, since he did not belong to the Genghisid family. He was also a beklyarbek - the head of the Golden Horde state administration.
The history of events before the Battle of Kulikovo and Mamai's policy
When Berbidek, the father of Tulunbek, was killed by Khan Kulp, Mamai declared war on him and, as already mentioned, the period of the “Great Jail” began. For 11 whole years since 1359, Mamai fought as many as nine khans, who opposed the fact that he put Khan Abdullah at the head. In 1366, Mamai conquered some lands in the west of the possessions of the Golden Horde (near the Crimea) and began to rule there. This weakened the central government. Temporarily, he even ruled the capital - New Saray (when he managed to win it back).
The Eastern states did not support Mamai, so he mainly turned to European states for support (most often to Lithuanian, Genoa and Venice). Mamai's reign was very ambiguous. Historians know that at first he supported Muscovy, even concluded an agreement with Metropolitan Alexy, who, one might say, ruled Moscow while Prince Dmitry was little. For Russia, the benefit of such an alliance was that Mamai reduced taxes levied on Russians.
After some time, Mikhailo Alansky himself asked the temnik (recall, this is how Mamai was called in Rus') to give a label to the principality of Dmitry Donskoy. Alani made many gifts to Temnik, and he agreed. Donskoy became dependent precisely on the Mamaev Horde (a self-proclaimed state in the Golden Horde), and not on those rulers who ruled in Sarai. Seven years later, Mamai took away the label for the principality from the prince, and gave it to Mikhail of Tver. But already matured at that time, Prince Dmitry managed to regain this label a year later. It was handed over to him by Khan Mohammed Bulak, who was placed on the throne by Mamai.
At the same time, there was a struggle with Tokhtamysh (legitimate khan of the Horde). He was a Chingizid and from 1377 tried to become a full-fledged ruler. His the main objective was to remove Mamai. A year later, he and his troops invaded the temnik's domain. By 1380, Tokhtamysh returned his lands, and only the North of the Black Sea and Crimea remained for Mamai. Tokhtamysh won and established legal power, and the "Great Zamyatnya" ended. It was almost at the same time as the Battle of Kulikovo, which we will discuss below.
Battle of Kulikovo
To know who Mamai is, you need to understand what role he played in the clash on this battle between the troops of Mamai and Dmitry Donskoy. There are several reasons that led to this battle.
Relations between the Mamaev Horde and Moscow deteriorated when the temnik took away from Donskoy the label already given to him for the Moscow principality. For this, Prince Dmitry stopped paying tribute. Temnik decided to send his ambassadors, but they were all killed by order of the prince, who had many supporters. After that, there were small clashes between the warring parties, but Mamai himself had not yet attacked. So far, only Arapsha (Khan of the Blue Horde serving under Mamai) has ruined some large Russian principalities.
In 1378, the temnik sent his troops to fight Dmitry, but the Horde were defeated. Around the same time, Mamai began to lose part of his territory, as Tokhtamysh and his people attacked him from the other side. In 1380, preparations for battle began. Moscow troops, led by Dmitry, were going to head to the Don through Kolomna. The main regiment was led by Donskoy himself, the second regiment was commanded by Vladimir the Brave, and the third by Gleb Bryansky. Very many Russian cities also provided great military support to Prince Dmitry, sending their troops to help.
It is also interesting to note the number of troops. IN different sources the number of Russian soldiers is mentioned from 40 thousand to 400 thousand. But many historians believe that these numbers are exaggerated and that the number of soldiers did not exceed 60 thousand. But in the troops of Mamai, there were from 100 to 150 thousand people.
The Battle of Kulikovo took place on September 8, 1380 on the banks of the Don at the Kulikovo field. It is known that the Russians advanced with banners depicting Jesus Christ. First, there were small clashes between the advanced troops, in which the Tatar-Mongol Chelubey and the Russian monk Peresvet died.
Since the troops of Mamai outnumbered the troops of the Don, the Russians initially had little chance of winning. But they had a certain tactic. They hid the ambush detachments of princes Vladimir Serpukhov and Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky, who helped a lot at the end of the battle. Thus, Mamai's side began to lose. Almost all the Horde warriors were killed. The battle ended with the flight of the Tatar-Mongol.
This battle had great importance. Although Rus' still continued to be under the yoke of the Golden Horde, it became more independent, the Moscow principality was greatly strengthened. A hundred years later, Rus' finally freed itself from the influence of the Horde.
Death
After losing to the Russian troops and Khan Tokhtamysh, Mamai fled to the territory of present-day Feodosia, but was not allowed to go there. Mamai tried to hide in the city of Solkhat (now it is Stary Krym), but did not have time to get there. On his way, Tokhtamysh's people attacked him. By this time, all Mamai's supporters had gone over to the side of the legitimate ruler, so the temnik had no reliable protection. In the battle with the people of Tokhtamysh, he was killed. Khan buried the body of his opponent with full honors. His grave (mound) is located in the village of Aivazovskoye near Feodosia ( former city Sheikh Mamai). Our glorious painter Aivazovsky found the grave.
Rod Mamaia
According to historical genealogies, the descendants of Mamai were princes living in the Principality of Lithuania. The great family of the well-known Glinskys is supposed to have been descended from Mansur Kiyatovich, the son of Mamai. The prince, for example, is known for his rebellion in Lithuania, after which he and his family moved to Moscow. Also, the descendants of Mamai are the Ruzhinsky, Vishnevetsky, Ostrogsky and Dashkevich families. The princes of these families are very famous in the history of Zaporozhye as people who have done a lot for Ukraine in military terms.
Several informative facts are known about the temnik Mamai:
- There is a saying “how Mamai passed”, which means disorder, devastation. It is also said about a person who left behind a mess. This expression occurred after the troops of Mamai successfully devastated the cities of Rus'.
- In addition to numerous historical books and sources, the name of the temnik is mentioned in the song "Mamai" (performer: Ukrainian group "Vopli Vidoplyasova"). But here it is worth noting the fact that there is such a concept as "Cossack Mamai" - which means the collective image of the hero-Cossack of Ukraine. But the name did not come from the name of the temnik, but from the ancient word "mamayuvati" (to travel, lead a free lifestyle). So it has nothing to do with darkness.
Conclusion
We found out who Mamai is. beklyarbek and military leader of the Golden Horde, the unofficial ruler of the self-proclaimed state of Mamaev Horde. He managed to win the trust of many Tatar-Mongols, to make many victories.
He became famous for his successful campaigns in Rus', but at the very end of his life he lost in the great Battle of Kulikovo, and a little later to Khan Tokhtamysh, with whom for a long time fought for power. His mistakes led to the weakening of the influence of the Golden Horde, and his own death.
Name: Mamay (Mamay)
Date of Birth: 1335
Age: 45 years
Date of death: 1380
Activity: military and political figure
Family status: was married
Mamai: biography
“How Mamai passed” - this proverb is still often used in Russian speech. It is used when we are talking about devastation, destruction. This is one of the few expressions of the era of the Battle of Kulikovo, when Mamayev defeated the army.
Childhood and youth
The biography of Mamai has a large number of white spots, because more than 6 centuries have passed since his birth. Presumably, he was born in 1335 in the capital of the Golden Horde, the city of Sarai-Batu. He was originally from the Mongolian tribe Kiyat, professed Islam. The name is an ancient Turkic version of the name Muhammad.
A successful marriage with the daughter of the Khan of the Golden Horde allowed Mamai to take the post of beklarbek in 1357: he led the supreme court, the army and conducted foreign affairs. Without marrying Tulunbek Mamaia, they would not have been allowed to such a high rank.
Golden Horde
In 1359, after the murder of Berdibek's father-in-law by Khan Kulpa, Mamai declared war on him. From this moment begins the so-called "Great zamyatnya" in the Horde. Since Mamai was not a Chingizid, he could not take the title of Khan. Then, in 1361, he proclaimed Khan of the White Horde (part of the Golden Horde, the second part was called the Blue) of his henchman Abdullah, who comes from the Batuid clan.
This step provoked protests from other contenders for power, from 1359 to 1370 Mamai had to fight with nine khans: by 1366 he was able to take control of the western part of the state, from the right bank of the Volga to the Crimea. Periodically, he owned the capital, the city of Saray. In foreign policy Mamai focused on rapprochement with European states - Venice, Genoa, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and others.
In 1370, the protege Abdullah died, presumably at the hands of Mamai. In his place was Mohammed Bulak, an eight-year-old boy from the Batuid clan. De jure he ruled the self-proclaimed Mamaeva Horde until 1380, until he died in the Battle of Kulikovo. In fact, Mamai ruled without taking the title of khan.
Temnik's relations with Moscow evolved in different ways. In the early years of his reign, Mamai provided support to the capital; in 1363, an agreement was signed with Metropolitan Alexy to reduce tribute. Moscow Prince Dmitry recognized the power of Mamai and Khan Abdullah.
However, in 1370, Mamai took away the Grand Duchy from him and handed it over to Mikhail of Tver. A year later, Dmitry paid a personal visit to the residence of the beklyarbek and returned the label. The enmity between the two states escalated after the Tatar squad, which accompanied the ambassadors of Mamai, was beaten in Nizhny Novgorod in 1374. The “great truce” began, the end of which was put only by the Battle of Kulikovo.
In 1377, the young Khan of the Golden Horde began to conquer the lands: in the spring of 1378 he conquered eastern part, Blue Horde. Then he went to the western part, the White Horde, where Mamai actually ruled. By the beginning of 1380, Tokhtamysh managed to return almost the entire territory of the Golden Horde, only the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region remained under the control of Mamai.
In such difficult conditions, Mamai decides to organize a campaign against Rus' in order to collect more tribute. Taking into account the fact that the troops of the horde became scanty, the ruler's advisers took mercenaries - Circassians, Genoese, etc. - for money. At the head of the Russian army was Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy.
Modern scientists disagree on the assessment of the size of the Golden Horde army. Some say that Mamai had 60 thousand people, others believe that from 100 to 150 thousand. The troops of Dmitry Donskoy were first estimated at 200-400 thousand people, later they dropped to 30 thousand. Archaeologists who excavated on the Kulikovo field, we are sure that there were from 5 to 10 thousand participants on both sides, and the battle lasted not 3 hours, as described in the annals, but 20-30 minutes.
Information about the battle was preserved in four written sources: “Zadonshchina”, “The Legend of the Mamaev Battle”, “A Brief Chronicle of the Battle of Kulikovo”, “A Long Chronicle of the Battle of Kulikovo”. The term "Battle of Kulikovo" was introduced into science in the "History of the Russian State".
The troops converged in the area where the Nepryadva River flows into the Don, now this is the territory Tula region. long time the reason for the absence of burials on the Kulikovo field remained a mystery, the excavations ended with the finds of weapons. However, in 2006, thanks to new ground penetrating radars, alleged mass graves of the dead were discovered. The absence of bone remains was explained by the chemical activity of chernozem, which quickly destructures tissues.
On the morning of September 8, the troops waited for the fog to clear. The battle began with small skirmishes, after which the famous duel with Chelubey took place, in which both were killed. Dmitry Donskoy first watched the battle in the guard regiment, then stood in the ranks, exchanging clothes with the Moscow boyar.
Mamai watched the battle from afar. As soon as he realized that the army was defeated, and the Russian ambush regiment was finishing off the remnants of his warriors, the Tatars, led by the ruler, fled. The proclaimed minor khan, under whom Mamai was a beklarbek, died on the battlefield.
From 9 to 16 September, the dead were buried on the field. A church was built on the mass grave, which has not survived to this day. Since 1848, a monument designed by A.P. Bryullov has been standing on the Kulikovo field. Historians believe that the victory of Dmitry Donskov on the Kulikovo field brought Rus' closer to liberation from foreign domination. For the Horde, the defeat of Mamai contributed to its consolidation under the rule of a single Khan Tokhtamysh.
After the defeat on the Kulikovo field, Mamai tried to reassemble the army in order to take revenge on Dmitry Donskoy. However, the next blow to Rus' failed, as Khan Tokhtamysh actively tried to recapture the last possessions of Mamai.
In September 1380, the armies of Mamai and Tokhtamysh met in the Battle of Kalki. According to the surviving memories, there was no direct battle - the main part of Mamaev's army simply went over to the side of Tokhtamysh. Mamai did not dare to confront them, he fled to the Crimea. With the victory of Tokhtamysh, the long internecine war, and the Golden Horde became a single state.
Personal life
Mamai took Tulunbek, the daughter of Berdibek, Khan of the Golden Horde, as his elder wife. The marriage was beneficial for the temnik, he was given the title of the khan's son-in-law, "gurgen". Thanks to his closeness with Berdibek, Mamai received the post of beklarbek - the first minister. This is the highest rank that a “non-Chingizid” could claim.
In 1380, after Mamai lost the Battle of Kalka, he fled to the Crimea, where he was killed. Tulunbek, along with the harem - the younger wives - went to Tokhtamysh. He decided to marry the widow of Mamai in order to increase his own legitimacy in the eyes of the capital's nobility.
Six years later, a conspiracy was formed against Tokhtamysh, information about which has not been preserved. Probably, they tried to replace him on the throne with a descendant of Batu. It is believed that the participants in the conspiracy were adherents of Mamai, led by Tulunbek. Tokhtamysh executed his wife, suspecting her of betrayal.
It is not possible to say exactly how many children Mamai had. It is known that one of his sons, Mansur Kiyatovich, after the death of his father, left the Crimea and created an autonomous principality between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Golden Horde, which later became part of the Lithuanian.
His son Alex in 1392 converted to Orthodoxy, receiving the name Alexander. He married his own son to Princess Anastasia Ostrozhskaya. The second descendant of Mansur, Skider, became the head of the Polovtsians in the western part of the Northern Black Sea region.
In the 16th century, the princes began to be called Glinsky in official Lithuanian documents, after the name of the city of Glinsk, where the residence was located. Presumably, this is the modern Zolotonosha. Glinsky - an extinct Lithuanian family from which the mother came. Thus, one of the descendants of Mamai turned out to be Grand Duke Moscow and All Rus'.
The Dashkevich, Vishnevetsky, Ruzhinsky, Ostrozhsky families are also considered descendants of Mamai. These princely families played an important role in the formation of modern Zaporozhye.
Another descendant of the beklarbek is the Ukrainian Cossack Mamai. In 2003, a film directed by Oles Sanin was released about the latter. The painting is based on the author's version of the origin of the legend about the Ukrainian Mamai. Half of the tape's budget was made up of the director's personal savings.
Death
At the time of his death, Mamai was 45 years old, the cause of death was murder. There are several legends about how Mamai died. It is known that after the defeat from the troops of Tokhtamysh, Mamai fled to the fortress of Kafu (modern Feodosia). He had with him the wealth accumulated over his life. The Genoese living in the fortress first accepted him in exchange for a part of the treasures, and then killed him on the orders of Tokhtamysh.
According to other sources, Mamai was handed over to Tokhtamysh, who stopped the life of the beklarbek with his own hands. Khan buried him with all honors, the grave is supposedly located in Sheikh Mamai ( modern name- the village of Aivazovskoye, not far from Feodosia). The mound was accidentally discovered by the artist. According to other sources, Mamai was buried near the walls of Solkhat (the modern urban settlement of Stary Krym).
There is a legend that Temnik Mamai was buried in golden armor on the mound named after him, which is located on the territory modern city Volgograd. Numerous excavations on the Mamaev Kurgan did not confirm the version, the tomb was not found. Currently, Mamaev Kurgan is known as a monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad".
Memory
- 1955 - Karyshkovsky P. O. "Battle of Kulikovo"
- 1981 - Shennikov A. A. "Principality of the descendants of Mamai"
- 2010 - Pochekaev R. Yu. "Mamai: The history of the "anti-hero" in history (dedicated to the 630th anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo)"
- 2010 - Pochekaev R. Yu. "Chronicle Mamai and Historical Mamai (an attempt to debunk stereotypes)"
- 2012 - Pachkalov A. V. "On the issue of registered coins of Mamai"
