Russia has a vast territory and vast territory.

A Ural Mountain (the dividing line between Eurasia and Europe) split Russia into two major plates, namely "European Russia" and "Asian Russia".

Therefore, Russia has always had relatively close contact with the cultures of the East and the West.

Russian Map

In different historical periods, Russia has been actively/passively accepting various influences from different ethnic groups.

From the mid-13th century to the second half of the 15th century, the Mongols (Golden Horde) ruled Russia for 240 years. This was a stage of "Orientalization" in Russian history. .

Map of the Golden Horde

The language, customs, traditions and even character of the Mongols have left a certain mark on Russian society and people. As the French writer Joseph de Maistre said, "Dissect the Russians and you will find the shadows of the Tatars."

How much impact did the Golden Horde’s 200-year rule have on the inheritance and development of Russian culture? Let’s take a look.

In November 1240, Kiev fell and Russia entered the period of Mongol rule. Three years later, Batu established his capital in Sarai (Selitlennoye, 120 kilometers north of Astrakhan) and established the Golden Horde.

The Great Khan combines political, economic, military and other powers, and has supreme power. At the beginning of the founding of the Khanate, the Rus' countries (the predecessor of Russia) endured cruel and high-pressure rule.

However, the center of gravity of the Golden Horde's rule was far away from the Russian mainland, and it did not conduct direct management for a long time. In addition, the cultural exchanges between Mongolia and the Russian countries are relatively limited, and the cultural integration is relatively limited.

Although at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "Basiha" system was implemented, that is, officials were directly appointed to investigate household registration, collect taxes, and stationed troops. But at the end of the 13th century, they changed their governance methods.

According to the records of "Dosan Mongol History", the (Golden Horde) canonized a "Grand Duke of All Russia and Vladimir" to rule and manage Russia, as long as political "surrender" and economic The "tribute tax" is enough.

Russian villages during the Golden Horde

In addition, the traditional religion of Kievan Rus, Orthodoxy, although it was ruthlessly suppressed in the early days of the Khanate, the "state religion" of the Khanate was Islam. , has not been widely recognized and disseminated here.

After the stability of the Khanate regime, the development of Orthodox Christianity even reached a new height - the number of Orthodox monasteries more than tripled in the previous 250 years.

In 1267, the rulers of the Golden Horde issued a charter to the church, and they obtained special privileges.

Monks are not only exempt from paying tribute and all labor, but also all their family members and housekeepers;

The real estate of the church must not be infringed upon. If there is any infringement, it should be punished immediately. Also;

In the event of war, all persons and monks in the church and in the office of Archbishop Peter were prohibited from conscription.

In addition to economic privileges, the church even has judicial power over the residents of its own church territory. The church feudal lords of the hereditary territories manage the territorial residents themselves. Only cases of homicide, robbery and theft with physical evidence were tried by the princely courts.

To be honest, the influence of Mongolian culture on Russian culture cannot be described as "huge", and it even once affected their historical process of integrating into Europe.

Not only did they miss historical moments in Europe such as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Bourgeois Revolution, but they also failed to achieve achievements in science, technology, literature, architecture, music, and philosophy that they were proud of.

Therefore, to this day, many Russian scholars still believe that:

The Mongols were the "culprit" for Russia's lagging behind the West, until Peter the Great succeeded to the throne and carried out "storm-like" reforms Later, Russian culture was able to "reborn" and move towards secularization, Westernization and modernization.