"Pacification and control": mongol rule in Rus’ in the mid-13th century

Abstract

The attacks of the Mongol commanders Nevruy and Kuremsa on the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician-Volhynian lands were due to the struggle for power in the Mongol Empire. The power of the Great Khan in the lands controlled by the Jochids was exercised by the Darughachi and Tammachi, who represented the main institutions of the military-civilian administrative system created by the Mongols in the conquered territories. To ensure control over the western outskirts of the empire, the new Khan Möngke sought to destroy the system of subjugation of the Rus’ lands, created by Batu during the period of temporary weakening of the imperial center. The census of the population of Rus’, undertaken by the Möngke government, was supposed to ensure the centralization of power, material and human resources, necessary for further conquests both in the West and in the East. The confrontation between the Jochids and the imperial center continued for several years, until the death of Batu and his son Sartaq.