The Horde exit is one of the most famous duties that existed in Russia from the 13th to the 15th centuries. At this time, the peasants groaned under the weight of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, to which was added the tribute paid to the local princes. It was one of the most difficult periods in the life of the Russian people. Russia was drowning in blood from raids of strangers and uprisings of peasants.
Tribute payment system
At the beginning of the XIII century, the Russian land was sprinkled with blood, whole villages and cities burned. There was no salvation from the raids of the forces of the Golden Horde; people of different classes and ages suffered. Rusich only engaged in rebuilding housing and fortified villages. But very soon the Mongols realized that it was unprofitable to attack the settlements, since people were exhausted, poor, and they did not have time to harvest. Then the Horde exit was introduced. Tribute is a constant, fixed income to the treasury, while there was no need to attack anyone.
In 1257, a population census was carried out, so the Mongol-Tatars knew exactly what principality how much they should pay duties. Tribute to the Golden Horde was collected from the lands, families, plows, and people were also obliged to pay duties for beekeeping, fishing, hunting for birds and animals. The Horde military detachments followed the order; also, in each principality, the Basque governors were located, who collected tribute.
Who did the conscription apply to?
The Horde exit acted on all the lands of the Russian principalities, absolutely everyone paid the duty. The exception was representatives of the Byzantine Orthodox Church. The explanation was very simple - the Horde was on friendly terms with Byzantium, and no one was going to spoil them because of the desire for profit. In addition, the Orthodox Church taught people humility, and this was beneficial to the Mongol-Tatars. Believing peasants silently tolerated the presence of strangers on their territory, without complaints they gave part of the harvest. After all, you need to obey the conquerors, at all the will of God ...
Tribute Size
The Horde exit was going in cash. Since there was no monetary system in Russia at that time, the Mongolian was introduced. Many historians say that the duties in the Middle Ages were exorbitant for the Russian peasants, but are the Hordes to blame? Tribute at the very beginning was called tithe. Based on the name, it becomes clear that people should have paid 1/10 of their income.
From the surviving sources it is known that in 1275 the Mongols took half a ruble from the “plow”, half a ruble from the village in 1384, and a half penny from the “plow” in 1408. It should be noted that the village and the “plow”, as well as the hryvnia and the ruble, are one and the same. From this it follows that during the XIII - XV centuries the size of the tribute did not change. In addition, the Mongol-Tatars did not collect the service annually, but once every 7 years. Of course, this was unprofitable, since a decent amount was accumulating during this time, but still the Mongols did not demand so much - about 1.5% of the income.
Termination of Payments
Despite the fact that the regular tribute that was collected in Russia for the Golden Horde Khan, in percentage terms, was not so significant, the peasants sometimes remained completely without a harvest and means of subsistence. The reason was conscription, additionally levied by local princes. People who were unable to pay the indicated amount were turned into slaves. Over time, the peasants began to rebel, uprisings occurred in Rostov, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Suzdal. Of course, they were crushed, a lot of blood was shed then, but nevertheless the Horde abandoned the Basqualism system, and the collection of tribute was transferred to the shoulders of the princes. The payment of duties to the Golden Horde lasted until the 15th century. Then the princes, although they collected tribute from people, did not carry it to the khans, and John Vasilyevich III completely stopped paying the Horde exit.