View attachment 646062
Image: Moscow during the reign of Dmitry Donskoi
Dhul Qadh 773 ( May, 1372)
Moscow, grand duchy of Muscovy
"
My Tsar, the Tatars are not ceasing their attacks upon the countryside. Our forces exhausted from the battle are not enough to contain them. Either Khan of Crimea is leading a revolt against the Great Khan in Sarai or that bloody, spawn of a devil Toktaymish has more tricks up his sleeve." spoke an anxious boyar."
Dmitry was swamped with all problems after the battle of Kablukovo. It seemed that throwing off the Tatar yoke was easier but living with it was not. Despite their hard earned victory, the Tatars were not gone and it seemed that Muscovites were used as a pawn by Orda Beg Toktaymish to settle a civil war of the Golden horde. And to add to all of that, Lithuanian Grand duke Algirdas was also upset at his brother in law Mikhail's death at the hands of Muscovy. Tver's claimants in the golden horde were mostly eliminated but now seeing the crisis, Lithuanians want to take a bite out of the vulnerable Rus.
"I'm calling a meeting of Boyars tomorrow. There seems to be more than one problem and we have no military solution. Oh, where have we descended from the glory of Svyatoslav!"
"My Tsar, pardon me. If it is not to your dismay. I have a solution." a bishop spoke in a soft spoken voice but his word were clear.
"Yes, go on wise man of the Church. May lord bless us with your good intentions." Dmitry replied.
"It seems Novgorod is the problem here, if you say step down as the prince of Novgorod and instill someone lower under your tutelage on that problematic throne, you can at least save Muscovy. We unfortunately can't turn the Lithuanians against Tatars now because we were the ones to have killed Mikhail of Tver and captured his son Ivan. It was a trap for us and we have let the Tatars best us." the bishop trembled as he spoke, his lips shaking from the fear and anticipation of attracting the wrath of his Tsar.
"Hm, at least we can stop Lithuanians and Tatars from turning on us. Maybe it is for the best. But by God, I shall not be the last Grand prince to hold both Muscovy and Novgorod. We won in the battle but we have been cheated by the cunning Toktaymish. Vladmir, please send envoy to the Lithuanians and say that we are open for any kind of negotiation." Dmitry now turned to a boyar just beside the throne.
"Um, there's a problem with that my Tsar, words got out that Kipchak Khan(Crimean Tatars) is leading an army himself to besiege Moscow. " he replied sheepishly
Dmitry sighed but clenched his fists. The Tatars were getting on his nerves. If they want to play rough the Rus will play as well.
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The Lithuanian ultimatum seeking Muscovite surrender of Tver and Novgorod came as a shock for the elated Muscovites who were in undisputed possession of both Tver and Novgorod after their victory over an allied army of Tver and Tatars. To add to the Muscovite problems, Crimean Tatars resumed their looting and burning of Rus countryside. The exhausted Muscovites hastily prepared for a defense of their capital which was 'besieged'. But the real Tatar goal and Toktaymish's intentions were still in a fit of clouds. The Tatars only surrounded Moscow for a short of a month and soon left after only 25 days, looting and taking slaves as they headed south. Dmitry tried to bring the Tatars in a place of his choice for battle but the wily nomads avoided any pitched confrontation.
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image : A Tatar attempt to scale the walls of Moscow
Finally on Muharram 774 (July 1372), the three parties decided to sit in Tver for negotiations. Muscovy wanted to keep Novgorod and add Tver to their growing duchy. Lithuania wanted to annex Tver on the right of Algirdas being relative of slain Mikhail II of Tver. Golden horde wanted to maintain the status quo and to ensure that neither Lithuanians nor Muscovy became to powerful. These conflicting interests often created a lot of false promises and backroom dealings, not to mention some unlikely alliances. A peculiar example of the understanding between Toktaymish and Algirdas. On Jumadiul Awal 774, the 'Treaty of Tver' was declared.
According to the treaty there will be some throne and allegiance changing.
1. Ivan Mikhailovitch gets to rule Tver as a subordinate of Dmitry of Muscovy.
2. Grand Duchy of Muscovy retract all their claims on Novgorod republic unless occupied by a foreign power.
3. Vytautas, nephew of Algirdas will be the new prince of Novgorod and will convert to Orthodoxy.
4. Novgorod will be a seperate principality whose independence is granted by Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Golden Horde. The tribute of Novgorod will be directly transferred to Sarai without Muscovy acting as the middleman. Despite any obligations part of the earning will go to Muscovy for 5 years as war repercussions.
5. Vytautas and any blood members of Algirdas have more right to Novgorod and can place a member on the throne of Tver if there is no male heir of Ivan.
Thus, the meddling of Lithuanians created a new balance of power in eastern Europe. But many later historians argue about the 'free hands' policy of Toktaymish which allowed the humbling of Muscovy. Muscovites felt that they were cheated in the negotiation table. The fact of a newly Christianized Orthodox Lithuanian dynasty as the ruler of a rich principality like Novgorod created headches. And Muscovites were not the only ones unhappy at the procedure. The Khan Makmut, under influence of words from Toqtaqiya lambasted Toktaymish for 'handing over Novgorod to Lithuanians'. Though he was sated in the subsequent year when the revenue increased a bit. In short, Toktaymish had a secret deal with Vytautas over sharing the riches of Novgorod. The promised tributes to Muscovy never arrived and Toktaymish was keeping the Khan satisfied with the shadowy arrangements by using tributes to reform the new city , Kazan. This also warmed up Toqtaqiya to him. In truth, most of the tribute was embezzled by the Orda beg. But Toktaymish's grand plan was now ready for execution....
(piece of
From the Vikings to Tsars: Early Russian History by Vasiley Simkus)
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Surprise! Bet no one was expecting that huh? Oh well, we have young Vytautas as prince of Novgorod here whose conversion to Othodoxy will create big ripples in the history of Poland , Lithuania and baltics. The horde will soon face an external threat but it will not be so simple.