Invasion of Muscovy

The Invasion of Muscovy occurred in the year 1521, the invasion was led by Mehmed I Giray of the Crimean Khanate, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.[1]

Invasion of Muscovy
Part of Russo-Crimean Wars
Date1521
Location
Moscow, Grand Duchy of Moscow
Result

Crimean victory

Belligerents
Crimean Khanate
Ottoman Empire		 Duchy of Muscovy
Commanders and leaders
Mehmed I Giray Vassily III
Units involved
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy
~30,000 enslaved

Background

In 1521 the Khan of the Crimean Khanate, Mehmed I Giray, prepared a great invasion of Russia.[1] The ruler of Kazan was despised by his people and Mehmed Giray took advantage of this, he seized the city and appointed his brother as its ruler.[4] Having seized Kazan Mehmed Giray collected a great force and began his advance towards Muscovy.[4]

Battle

He met Vasili at the banks of the Oka river and crushed the Russian army.[1][4] Mehmeds brother Shihab Giray joined him at Kolomna massacring people and desecrating churches as he advanced.[4] The monastery of St Nicholas was burnt as well as the village of Ostrof which was Vasili's favourite residence.[4] The Crimean Tatars, now drunken off the hydromel in Vasili's cellars, overlooked Moscow.[4] Vasili reportedly humiliated himself, he was forced to pay tribute and made to sign a treaty formalising his status as dependent on and a tributary of the Crimean Khanate.[1][2][3][4][5] The Tatar general reportedly built his own statue in Moscow and made Vasili prostrate before it.[6]

Aftermath

Following the submission of Vasilli, Mehmed Giray withdrew, reportedly in 1523 after news of an offensive against Crimea by the Astrakhan Khanate.[7] During his withdrawal Mehmed was attacked by the cannonballs of the governor of Riazan who took the humiliating treaty from him, however 30,000 prisoners were taken to Kaffa and sold to the Turks.[1][8]

References
  1. The History of Russia from the Earliest Times to 1877, Volume 1. By Alfred Rambaud.
  2. Histoire moderne depuis le grand schisme d'occident (1378) jusqu'à 1789, Volume 1. Emile Lefranc.
  3. Histoire Des Gouvernemens Du Nord, Ou De l'Origine & des Progres du Gouvernement des Provinces-Unies, du Danemark, de la Suede ... Ouvrage traduit de l'Anglois de M. Williams. Volume 3.
  4. History of the Mongols: The so-called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia. 2 v. By Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth
  5. Atlas Historique Des États Européens, Et De Tous Les Pays En Rapport Avec L'Europe: Composé D'Une Suite De Cartes Géographiques Et De Tableaux Chronologiques Et Généalogiques. Christian Kruse, Friedrich Kruse.
  6. A General View of the World: Geographical, Historical and Philosophical; on a Plan Entirely New; in Two Volumes, Volume 2. Ezekiel Blomfield. C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley.
  7. Europe in the Sixteenth Century. David Maland. Macmillan International Higher Education.
  8. The Historians' History of the World, Volumes 17-18. Henry Smith Williams. Encyclopaedia britannica Company, Limited, 1926.
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