View source for Great Stand on the Ugra River

{{Short description|1480 battle between the Great Horde and the Grand Duchy of Moscow}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Great Stand on the Ugra River
| partof            = 
| image             = Facial Chronicle - b.16, p. 462 - Great standing on the Ugra.jpg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = Miniature in Russian chronicle, 16th century
| date              = 8 October – 11 November 1480
| place             = [[Ugra (Oka)|Ugra River]] banks (now in [[Kaluga Oblast]], Russia)
| result            = Russian victory{{sfn|Borrero|2009|pp=351–352}}{{sfn|Alexeev|2009|pp=216,258}}
| combatant1        = [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]]
| combatant2        = {{Flagicon image|Golden Horde flag 1339.svg}} [[Great Horde]]
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
*[[Ivan III of Russia]]
*[[Ivan Molodoy]]
*{{ill|Andrey Menshoy|ru|Андрей Васильевич Меньшой}}}}
| commander2        = {{Flagicon image|Golden Horde flag 1339.svg}} [[Ahmed Khan bin Küchük]]
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Conflicts in Eastern Europe during Turco-Mongol rule}}
| territory         = 
}}

The '''Great Stand on the Ugra River''' ({{langx|ru|Великое стояние на Угре}}) or the '''Standing on the Ugra River''',{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2012|pp=42–43}} also known as the '''Battle of the Ugra''',{{sfn|Borrero|2009|p=351}} was a standoff in 1480 on the banks of the [[Ugra River (Oka)|Ugra River]] between the forces of [[Ahmed Khan bin Küchük|Akhmat Khan]] of the [[Great Horde]], and Grand Prince [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]] of the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]].{{sfn|Perrie|Pavlov|2014|p=14|loc=A confrontation on the River Ugra which took place in October 1480, between Grand Prince Ivan III and Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, is often said to have marked the definitive end of the 'Tatar yoke'}}

After Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde,{{sfn|Borrero|2009|p=351}} Akhmat Khan led an army towards Moscow, leading to a standoff between the two armies on the banks of the river.{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93}} Akhmat Khan waited for his Lithuanian reinforcements to arrive, but they never did,{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93}}{{sfn|Keller|2020|p=28}} with one Mongol attempt to cross the river failing due to Russian fire,{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93}} leading to Akhmat Khan retreating.{{sfn|Khodarkovsky|2002|p=80}} Both armies departed after little fighting.{{sfn|Keller|2020|p=28}}{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93|loc=Except for a Mongol attempt to cross the river, which Russian arrows and guns beat back, there was little fighting}} Nevertheless, the outcome of the campaign corresponded to the strategic plan of the Russians to defend the capital and the border from the Tatars.{{sfn|Alexeev|2009|p=258}}

In Russian historiography, it has been interpreted as the end of the "[[Tatar yoke]]" in Russia,{{sfn|Auty|Obolensky|1976|p=93|loc=The majority of Russian historians consider 1480 to be the date of the final liberation of Russia from the Mongol yoke}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Russian history |date=2004 |publisher=Macmillan Reference  |location=New York |isbn=978-0028656939 |page=688}}</ref>{{sfn|Khodarkovsky|2002|p=80}}{{sfn|Kort|2008|p=24}} though some historians believe that the event itself was insignificant and did not change Russo-Tatar relations.{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=305|loc=[R]ather than exploding into a decisive battle, the confrontation between the armies of the Great Horde and Muscovy at the Ugra fizzled into mutual retreat}}{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2012|pp=42–43|loc=After a few days of watching one another, the two armies departed for home. This event, the “standing on the Ugra,” was ever after seen in Russia as the end of Tatar overlordship}} Nevertheless, the event is usually regarded as the end of nominal Tatar suzerainty over Russia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson|first1=John M. |title=Russis and the Soviet Union : an historical introduction|edition=2nd|date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1000310566 |pages=73}}</ref>{{sfn|Borrero|2009|pp=351|loc=the Battle of the Ugra River traditionally marks the end of Mongol rule in Russia}}{{sfn|Perrie|Pavlov|2014|p=14|loc=A confrontation on the River Ugra which took place in October 1480, between Grand Prince Ivan III and Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, is often said to have marked the definitive end of the 'Tatar yoke'}}{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93|loc=Although Russian territorial gains from Lithuania were significant, Ivan III's reign is better known for ending the "Tatar yoke"}}

==Background==
The main Russian defence line ran along the [[Oka River]] from [[Kaluga]] east toward [[Nizhny Novgorod]]. At Kaluga the Oka bends sharply from north to east and the defense line was extended westward along the [[Ugra (Oka)|Ugra River]]. The land west and south of Kaluga was claimed by Lithuania. At this time [[Ivan III]] was uniting the lands north of the Oka. At the same time the [[Golden Horde]] was breaking up and the steppe remnant came to be called the [[Great Horde]]. [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] of Poland-Lithuania was allied with the Great Horde,<ref>[https://rdcu.be/dawGu The Agony of the “Yoke”: The Great Horde as a Fading Threat to Muscovite Rus], Trepavlov, V.V., Her. Russ. Acad. Sci. 92 (Suppl 5), S428–S433 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331622110119</ref> while Muscovy was allied with the [[Crimean Khanate]] against the Horde. In 1472 [[Ahmed Khan bin Küchük|Akhmed]] of the Great Horde raided the Oka at [[Aleksin]] but was driven off. In 1476 Russia officially stopped paying tribute to the Tatars. In late 1479 Ivan quarreled with his brothers, [[Andrey Bolshoy]] and Boris of [[Volokolamsk|Volotsk]], who began intriguing with Casimir. This internal conflict may have influenced Akhmed's decision to attack.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Campaign==
{{Location map+|Russia Central Federal District|width=400|float=right|caption=Blue: Ugra River. Yellow and Red: Oka River. <br/>Labeled red squares are military centers during the war.<br/>Black X's are Ivan's bases at Kremenets and Borovsk.<br/>Akhmed's base at Vorotynsk was just south of the Ugra-Oka junction|places=
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.33|long=44.00|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=Nizhny Novgorod|position=top}} <!--wow-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.23|long=43.45|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Dzerzhinsk-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.13|long=43.06|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Gorbatov-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.97|long=43.06|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Pavlovo-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.55|long=42.20|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Navashino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.56|long=42.02|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Murom-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.56|long=41.40|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Kasimov-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.60|long=39.70|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Ryazan-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.08|long=38.62|mark=Point carte.svg|label=Kolomna|position=right}}

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.83|long=37.62|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Paschino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.88|long=37.22|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Protvino-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.83|long=38.02|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Kashira-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.88|long=38.00|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Stupino-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.91|long=37.40|label=Serp.|mark=Point carte.svg|position=top}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.73|long=37.18|mark=Point carte.svg|label=Taru.|position=left}}<!--Tarusa-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.52|long=37.10|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Aleksin-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.50|long=36.28|mark=Point carte.svg|label=Kaluga|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.01|long=36.15|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Belyov-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=53.50|long=36.25|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--nowhere-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=52.97|long=36.04|mark=Dot-yellow.svg|label=}}<!--Oryol-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.50|long=36.11|mark=Location dot blue.svg|label=}}<!--Ugra mouth-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.67|long=35.94|mark=Location dot blue.svg|label=}}<!--Touarkova-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.69|long=35.54|mark=Location dot blue.svg|label=}}<!--Plyuskove-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.74|long=35.23|mark=Location dot blue.svg|label=}}<!--Yukhrov-->

{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.750 |long=37.6166 |label=MOSCOW |position=top|mark=Filled diamond.svg}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=54.47|long=36.05|mark=Clear pog.svg|label=}}<!--Vorotynsk-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=59.73|long=37.77|mark=Pfeil oben.svg|label=Beloozero}}<!--lat60.333-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=56.86|long=35.95|label=Tver|position=top}}
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.10|long=35.95|mark=X solid black 17.gif|label=|position=top}}<!--'Kremenets'-->
{{Location map~|Russia Central Federal District|lat=55.20|long=36.50|label=|position=top|mark=X solid black 17.gif}}<!--Borovsk-->
}}

In late May news of the pending invasion reached Moscow. Nesin (2015) says it was the largest Tatar army in the fifteenth century.<ref>Nesin, p. 111.</ref> One faction wanted to flee north, but was overruled. In June Ivan sent troops south to the Oka: to [[Serpukhov]] under his son [[Ivan the Young]], to [[Tarusa]] under his brother Andrey the Less, and under Ivan himself to [[Kolomna]]. Tatar scouting parties soon appeared south of the Oka.  Russian outposts reported that Akhmed was tending northwest so Russian troops were moved west toward [[Kaluga]]. Forces from Tver moved toward the Ugra.  Around 30 September Ivan returned to Moscow to meet with his bishops and [[boyar]]s and major decisions were made.{{what|specify major decisions or delete|date=April 2023}} The quarrel with his brothers was settled and their troops began moving toward the Oka. The state treasury and royal family were moved north to [[Belozersk|Beloozero]], and some cities were evacuated. Vasily Nozdrovaty and the exiled Crimean khan [[Nur Devlet]] were sent east down the Oka and Volga to attack Akhmed in the rear.{{efn|What happened does not seem to be well documented. Some sources have him reaching Sarai. Karamzin thought that this influenced Akhmed's withdrawal, but Nesin thinks he was unaware of it or paid no attention.{{cn|date=January 2023}}}} Meanwhile, Akhmed had moved northward between the upper Don and Oka and at an uncertain date made camp at [[Vorotynsk, Peremyshlsky District, Kaluga Oblast|Vorotynsk]] just south of the Ugra-Oka junction on the west bank of the Oka. Here he waited for Casimir, who never came. Casimir was tied down fighting the Crimeans in Podolia, but he may have had other reasons for not coming. On 3 October Ivan moved to Kremenets (now {{ill|Kremenskoye|ru|Кременское}} in modern [[Medynsky District]]) to watch the front. Nesin (2015) gives the Russian front as 60 versts (kilometers),<ref>Nesin, p. 115.</ref> but does not specify its start and end points.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

On 6–8 October Akhmed moved his troops up to the Ugra. Fighting began at one o'clock on the eighth and continued for almost four days. Attempts to cross the river failed, largely because of Russian fire,{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93}} and because the river was wide enough to make Tatar arrows ineffective. The battlefield extended five kilometers along the Ugra from its mouth westward. Akhmed withdrew two versts (kilometers) south to a place called Luza.{{what|location?|date=July 2023}}  He then tried to secretly move his troops to a place called 'Opakhov', but his movement was detected and the crossing blocked. Ivan began negotiations with Akhmed, which led nowhere, but gave Ivan time to bring up more troops. Both sides spent the next month watching each other across the river.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

It was getting late in the season and both sides knew that once the river froze solid it would no longer be a barrier. Akhmed could concentrate his forces and break the thin Russian line at any point. Ivan's best plan was to pull back and concentrate his force. On 26 October Ivan began moving troops from the Ugra northeast to Kremenets and then east to [[Borovsk]]. Here he had a good defensive position to protect Moscow and could strike in any direction if Akhmed chose to advance. Akhmed expected [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] to join him with Lithuanian reinforcements, but Casimir faced a revolt at home and never showed up.{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=305}}{{sfn|Keller|2020|p=28|loc=Ahmad Khan... waited for his new Polish-Lithuanian allies to arrive. They never did, and so neither army tried to cross the river}}{{sfn|Moss|2003|p=93|loc=The khan expected to meet up with Lithuanian forces sent by King Casimir... Khan Akhmad waited for the Lithuanian troops, but (as in 1380) they never appeared}} Instead of advancing, on 8 November Akhmed began to withdraw. News of the retreat reached Ivan on 11 November. In his retreat, Akhmed raided twelve Lithuanian towns, including [[Mtsensk]]. His son Murtaza raided some villages south of the Oka until the Russians drove him off. On 28 November Ivan returned to Moscow. In January 1481 Akhmed was killed by [[Ibak Khan]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Reasons for Akhmed's withdrawal==
{{main|1480 Sarai cavalry raid}}
[[Nikolay Karamzin]] wrote: "It should have been an odd image: two armies ran away from each other, not pursued by anyone", but it is now clear that the two withdrawals were independent. Ivan's motive is clear, but Akhmed's motives are a matter of guesswork.<ref>See Nesin in sources.</ref>{{pn|date=January 2023}} Casimir's failure to appear was clearly important. Nesin thinks that a major factor was the end of Ivan's quarrel with his brothers and the resulting additional troops. The impending Russian winter was a consideration. The longer the standoff lasted, the more troops Ivan could bring up, while Akhmed's reserves were few and far away. The Tatar horses, and the sheep they drove with them for food, gradually consumed the local fodder. There are reports of disease in his army. Akhmed may have thought Ivan's withdrawal was a ruse to draw him into an ambush, a common steppe tactic. Even if there were no ambush, he would have to fight an army in a prepared position, or try to bypass it. The Tatars preferred hit-and-run raids and Akhmed may not have wished to attack a concentrated army. The sources do not explain why he did not try to outflank the Russian line by moving west. His wise, but seemingly cowardly, withdrawal probably contributed to his death a few months later.{{Clarify|The relation between these events is unclear.|date=December 2021}}

== Aftermath ==
On 6 January 1481, Akhmat Khan was killed in a clash with the Nogais under [[Ibak Khan]], a princeling from the [[Khanate of Sibir]]. In 1502, Crimea destroyed the Great Horde as an organization, thereby removing the buffer between Russia and Crimea and leading to a series of Russo-Crimean wars that lasted until 1784.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

For the next century, relations between the Russians and Mongols continued to rapidly change, with both launching incursions and attacks against each other. In 1521, the Crimean Khanate plundered southern Russia and almost reached Moscow. Both Russia and Lithuania allied with different khanates before moving to another.{{sfn|Moss|2003|pp=93–94}}

==Legacy==
According to Russian historiography, the event marked the end of Russian dependency on Tatar overlords.{{sfn|Bushkovitch|2012|pp=42–43}}{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=318}} On the other hand, some modern historians regard the confrontation as indecisive, and not having a significant effect on Muscovite–Tatar relations.{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=318}} Charles Halperin mentioned that "Moscow had probably ceased paying tribute to the Great Horde sometime in the 1470s" yet continued formal relations for 20 more years and continued to pay tribute of some sort to other khanates at times.{{sfn|Halperin|1987|p=70}} Janet Martin dismissed the significance of the standoff as "embellished".{{sfn|Martin|1995|p=318|loc=[T]he non-battle has commonly, although erroneously, been identified as the event that ended Tatar domination over the Russian lands. The so-called Battle of the Ugra neither broke the Tatar yoke nor destroyed the close relations Muscovy maintained with its Tatar neighbors}} However, one significant change was that no Russian prince needed to ask for permission again from a Tatar khan to rule.{{sfn|Keller|2020|p=28|loc=The one change, and it was significant, was that no Russian prince ever again needed to ask a khan for permission to rule}}

Some of the earliest Russian sources mentioning the event include:
* The ''Epistle to the Ugra'' ({{langx|ru|Послание на Угру|translit=Poslanie na Ugru}}), written by [[Vassian Patrikeyev]], bishop of Rostov and confidant of Ivan III.{{sfn|Halperin|1987|pp=70–71}}
* The anonymous ''Epistle to Ivan IV'' (dated {{circa}} 1550s), attributed to [[Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow]] or the priest [[Sylvester (priest)|Sylvester]].{{sfn|Halperin|1987|p=72}}
* The anonymous ''[[Kazan Chronicle]]'' ({{langx|ru|Казанская летопись|translit=Kazanskaia letopis}}) alias ''Kazan History'' ({{langx|ru|Казанская история|translit=Kazanskaia istoriia}}) (dated {{circa}} 1560s).{{sfn|Halperin|1987|pp=72–73}}

==See also==
* [[Battle of Kulikovo]]
* [[Battle of Molodi]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |last=Alexeev |first=Yuri |lang=ru |script-title=ru:Походы русских войск при Иване III |trans-title=Campaigns of Russian troops under Ivan III |date=2009 |publisher=St. Petersburg University Press |isbn=978-5-288-04840-1 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Auty |first1=Robert |last2=Obolensky |first2=Dimitri |title=Companion to Russian Studies: Volume 1: An Introduction to Russian History |date=1976 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-28038-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0iVBLGd9xEC |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Borrero |first1=Mauricio |title=Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7475-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhm0cGdrTOIC |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bushkovitch |first1=Paul |title=A concise history of Russia |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1139033206 |pages=42–43}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Halperin |first1=Charles J. |authorlink=Charles J. Halperin |date=1987 |title=Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVsoDAAAQBAJ |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=192 |isbn=978-0253013668 |access-date=28 January 2023}}
* {{cite book |last1=Keller |first1=Shoshana |title=Russia and Central Asia: Coexistence, Conquest, Convergence |date=2020 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-9434-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b1G_DwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500–1800 |last=Khodarkovsky |first=Michael |year=2002 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0253339898 |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116405117767 |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kort |first1=Michael |title=A Brief History of Russia |date=2008 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0829-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8_RH3hhsAMC |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Medieval Russia: 980–1584 |last=Martin |first=Janet |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=0521362768 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Moss |first1=Walter G. |title=A History of Russia Volume 1: To 1917 |date= 2003 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-023-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHdPAgAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* Nesin, M.K. "On the Reasons for the Withdrawal of Tatar Troops after the Ugra Standoff", 2015, in Russian: http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Nesin_05.pdf (avoid further links to milhist.info which is not secure)
* {{cite book |last1=Perrie |first1=Maureen |last2=Pavlov |first2=Andrei |title=Ivan the Terrible |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-89468-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mooABAAAQBAJ |language=en}}

== External links ==
{{commons}}

{{coord missing|Russia}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1480]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Golden Horde]]
[[Category:15th century in the Grand Principality of Moscow]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Grand Principality of Moscow]]