Volta
Conflict1236 – 1242

Mongol Invasion of Europe

Also called: Mongol invasion of Rus, Founding of the Golden Horde

Genghis Khan’s grandson Batu destroyed Volga Bulgaria and the Rus principalities and struck as far as Poland and Hungary. On the death of Ögedei he withdrew and founded the Golden Horde.

Batu Khan’s sack of Suzdal — miniature from a 16th-century Russian chronicle
Batu Khan’s sack of Suzdal — miniature from a 16th-century Russian chronicle

Anonymous Russian manuscript illuminators, 1560-1570s Facial Chronicle (Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible) (in 10 volumes: pdf , pdf with translation ) Public domain image · Public domain · Source

Following the kurultai of 1235, a Mongol army under Batu and Subutai destroyed Volga Bulgaria in 1236, overran Ryazan, Vladimir and the rest of northeastern Rus in 1237–1238 and took Kyiv in December 1240. In 1241 it split to strike Poland and Hungary, winning great victories at Legnica and Mohi. But when news of Ögedei’s death late in 1241 arrived, the army turned back in 1242. Batu founded the Golden Horde with its capital at Sarai on the Volga, and the Rus principalities lived under its overlordship — the "Tatar yoke" — for over two centuries.

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The map in 1236

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States and rulers at the time
Mongol Empire · invader — Ögedei Khan
Volga Bulgaria · fell
Kievan Rus' · invaded
Kingdom of Poland · invaded
Kingdom of Hungary · invaded
Golden Horde · founded

People

  • Batu Khan1207 – 1255

    commander · Grandson of Genghis Khan who led the European campaign of 1236–1242 and founded the Golden Horde with its capital at Sarai on the Volga

  • Subutai1175 – 1248

    commander · General of Genghis Khan and Ögedei, who with Jebe defeated the Rus at the Kalka and was the operational commander of Batu’s European campaign

  • Ögedei Khan1186 – 1241

    monarch · Third son of Genghis Khan and second Great Khan, who destroyed the Jin, walled Karakorum and sent armies against Goryeo and Europe

2 parts of this event

  1. 1
    1241Battle of Legnica

    A Mongol column of Batu’s army that entered Poland defeated a Polish and German knightly army under Henry II the Pious at Legnica. Henry was killed.

  2. 2
    1241Battle of Mohi

    Batu and Subutai surrounded and annihilated the army of King Béla IV of Hungary at Mohi on the Sajó River. Hungary was ravaged until the Mongols withdrew the next year.

Before and after

Earlier
1223 Battle of the Kalka River
Later
1480 Ivan III and the End of Mongol Rule

Themes that include this event

  • The Mongol Conquests1206 – 1294

    From the rise of Genghis Khan to the Yuan conquest of the Song — eighty years in which the Mongols swept Eurasia from Goryeo to Hungary