Mamai left a significant mark in history: it was during his time that the famous Kulikovo battle took place. This was an ambiguous but influential person 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 (the ancient Turkic tribe, of which Genghis Khan himself was a representative). Mamai married very favorably, taking as a wife Tulunbek - the daughter of Muhammad Berdibek (the eighth ruler of the Horde).
Berdibek died in 1359. At this, the reign of the Batuid dynasty ceased. Momai began the so-called period of the Great Jam, which lasted almost until his death. He tried to restore the dynasty, making khans only representatives of the clan. 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 controlled the troops of the Golden Horde from 1361 to 1380, was a military commander. The Russians called it temnik. This is the military rank of a man who leads the largest group of his army (about 10 thousand people). He did not have the title of Khan, since he did not belong to the genus Genghiside. He was also a beclarbek - the manager of the Golden Horde state administration.
The history of events before the Battle of Kulikovo and the politics of Mamaia
When Berdibek, the father of Tulunbek, was killed by Khan Kulp, Mamai declared war on him and, as already mentioned, the period of the Great Jamble began. For 11 years since 1359, Mamai fought already with nine khans who opposed what he had placed Khan Abdullah at the head of the White Horde . In 1366, Mamai conquered some lands in the west of the Golden Horde possessions (near Crimea) and began to rule there. This weakened central authority. Temporarily, he even ruled the capital - New Sarai (when it was possible to conquer it).
The eastern states did not support Mamaia, so he mainly appealed for support to the European states (most often to the Lithuanian, to Genoa and to Venice). The reign of Mamaia was very mixed. Historians know that for the first time he supported the Principality of Moscow, even concluded an agreement with Metropolitan Alexy, who, one might say, ruled Moscow while Prince Dmitri was a little. For Russia, the benefit of such an alliance was that Mamai reduced the taxes levied on Russians.
After some time, Mikhailo Alansky with the little prince himself asked the temnik (we recall, Mamaia was called in Russia) to give a shortcut to the principality of Dmitry Donskoy. Alansky made many gifts to Temnik, and he agreed. So Dmitry Donskoy, the prince, became dependent on Mamaia (the Mamaev Horde, more precisely, the self-proclaimed state in the Golden Horde), and not on those rulers who ruled in Sarai. Seven years later, Mamai took the label of the princedom from the prince, and gave it to Mikhail of Tver. But already at that time, Prince Dmitry was able to regain this label in a year. He was handed over to him by Khan Mohammed Bulak, who was seated on the throne by Mamai.
At the same time, there was a struggle with Tokhtamysh (the legal khan of the Horde). He was a Genghiside and since 1377 tried to become a full-fledged ruler. His main goal was to remove Mamaia. A year later, he and his troops invaded the temnik. By 1380, Tokhtamysh returned his lands, and only the North of the Black Sea region and Crimea remained to Mamay. Tokhtamysh won and established legal authority, and the "Great Memorial" ended. It was almost at the same time as the Battle of Kulikovo, which we will talk about below.
Kulikovo battle
To know who Mamai is, you need to understand what role he played in the clash on the Kulikovo field. This battle was between the troops of Mamaia and Dmitry Donskoy. There are several reasons that led to this battle.
Relations between the Mamaev Horde and Moscow worsened when the temnik deprived Donskoy of the label he had already given him for the Principality of Moscow. 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 advanced. So far, only Arapsha (an employee of Mamaia Khan of the Blue Horde) has ravaged some large Russian principalities.
In 1378, the temnik sent his troops to battle with Dmitry, but the Horde were defeated. Around the same time, Mamai began to lose part of his territory, since Tokhtamysh and his people attacked him from the other side. In 1380, preparations began for the battle. Moscow troops, led by Dmitry, were about to head for the Don through Kolomna. The main regiment was headed by Donskoy himself, the second regiment was commanded by Vladimir the Brave, and the third by Gleb Bryansk. 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. Different sources mention the number of Russian soldiers 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 army of Mamaia, there were from 100 to 150 thousand people.
The Battle of Kulikovo took place on September 8, 1380 on the banks of the Don in the Kulikovo field. It is known that the Russians were advancing with banners depicting Jesus Christ. At first there were small clashes of the advanced troops in which the Tatar-Mongol Chelubey and the Russian monk Peresvet died.
Since Mamaia’s troops outnumbered the Don army, the Russians initially had little chance of victory. But they had a certain tactic. They hid the ambush squads of princes Vladimir Serpukhov and Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky, which at the end of the battle helped a lot. Thus, the Mamai side began to lose. Almost all the Horde warriors were killed. The battle ended with the flight of the Tatar-Mongol.
This battle was of great importance. Although Russia still continued to be under the yoke of the Golden Horde, but became more independent, the Moscow principality was greatly strengthened. A hundred years later, Russia was finally freed from the influence of the Horde.
Death
After losing to the Russian troops and Khan Tokhtamysh, Mamai fled to the territory of present Theodosia in the city of Kafu, but he was not allowed to go there. Momai tried to take refuge in the city of Solkhat (now it is the Old Crimea), but did not manage to get there. On his way, people of Tokhtamysh attacked him. By this time, all supporters of Mamaia went over to the side of the legitimate ruler, so the temnik did not have reliable protection. In a battle with the people of Tokhtamysh, he was killed. Khan buried the body of his opponent with honors. His grave (mound) is located in the village of Aivazovskoye near Feodosia (the former city of Sheikh Mamai). Found the grave of our glorious painter Aivazovsky.
Rod Mamaia
According to historical genealogy, the descendants of Mamaia were princes living in the Principality of Lithuania. The great family of the well-known Glinsky, it is assumed, was led from Mansur Kiyatovich - the son of Mamai. Prince Mikhail Glinsky, 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 families of the Ruzhinsky, Vishnevetsky, Ostrog and Dashkevichs. The princes of these names are very famous in the history of Zaporozhye as people who have done a lot for Ukraine militarily.
Interesting Facts
Several cognitive facts are known about Mamay's temnik:
- There is a saying “how Mommy went through”, which means mess, ruin. It is also said about the man who left behind a mess. This expression occurred after the detachments of Mamaia successfully devastated the cities of Russia.
- 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 thing as “Cossack Mamai” - which means a collective image of the hero-Cossack of Ukraine. But the name did not come from the name of the temnik, but from the old word "mamayuvati" (travel, lead a free lifestyle). So this has nothing to do with temnik.
Conclusion
We found out who Mamai is. This is Temnik, Beklyarbek and the military leader of the Golden Horde, the unofficial ruler of the self-proclaimed state of Mamaev Horde. He managed to gain the trust of many Tatar-Mongols, to make many victories.
He became famous for his successful campaigns in Russia, but at the very end of his life he lost in the great Battle of Kulikovo, and a little later, Khan Tokhtamysh, with whom he fought for power for a long time. His mistakes led to the weakening of the influence of the Golden Horde, and of himself to death.