Battle of the Kalka River (1381)

1381 battle This article is about the 1381 battle between Mongol warlords Mamai and Tokhtamysh. For the 1223 battle between Kievan Rus'–Cuman forces and the Mongol Empire, see Battle of the Kalka River.

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Battle of the Kalka River

Part of the Great Troubles

Date

1381

Location

Kalka river

Result

Decisive defeat of Mamai

Tokhtamysh takes over Golden Horde as undisputed khan

Belligerents

Mamai's faction

Tokhtamysh's faction

Commanders and leaders

Mamai

Tokhtamysh

Strength

Unknown, smaller

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Unknown, most likely higher

Unknown

v t e Great Troubles
Blue Waters Shishevsky Forest Pyana River Lithuanian–Muscovite War Trosna River Sary-Aka Muscovite–Volga Bulgars war Pyana River Vozha River Kulikovo Kalka River Moscow

The Battle of the Kalka River in 1381 was fought between the Mongol warlords Mamai and Tokhtamysh (also spelt Toqtamish) for control of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh was the victor and became sole ruler of the Horde.

Mamai previously had de facto control over the Horde (though he was never declared khan), but his control began to crumble when Tokhtamysh of the White Horde invaded. At the same time the Rus' princes rebelled against his rule, removing a valuable source of tax income from Mamai. Mamai was defeated at the famous 1380 Battle of Kulikovo, at which a Muscovy-led coalition of Rus' princes scored a pyrrhic victory. Mamai raised more troops and prepared another operation to subdue these rebellious Rus' principalities once more. Meanwhile in the east, Tokhtamysh had seized the Golden Horde's capital, Sarai. Mamai was forced to abandon his planned second Rus' campaign to deal with Tokhtamysh first. The armies clashed at the region around the northern Donets and Kalka Rivers. No details of the battle remain but Tokhtamysh, who probably had a larger army, won a decisive victory. He subsequently took over the Golden Horde as undisputed khan.

According to the earliest version of the "Chronicle Tale" (Letopisnaia povest’), Tokhtamysh informed Muscovite prince Dmitry Donskoy that he had defeated their mutual enemy Mamai.

Notes

^ "t is clear that Moscow had won a pyrrhic victory . Russian losses were so great that Moscow could now raise another army to take advantage of Mamai's defeat. Mamai, on the other hand, mobilized more troops and prepared for a second campaign against Russia."
^ "Luckily for Moscow, the arrival of Tokhtamysh, pretender to the throne of the Volga khanate and client of the powerful Tamerlane, caused Mamai to abandon his Russian scheme. Unluckily for Moscow, Tokhtamysh had the same plans and carried them out after defeating emir Mamai on the river Kalka."

References

^ Halperin 1987, p. 75.
^ Halperin 2016, p. 4.
Halperin 2016, p. 9.

Bibliography

Halperin, Charles J. (1987). Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History. p. 222. ISBN 9781850430575. (e-book).
Halperin, Charles J. (17 February 2016). "A Tatar interpretation of the battle of Kulikovo Field, 1380: Rustam Nabiev". Nationalities Papers. 44 (1): 4–19. doi:10.1080/00905992.2015.1063594. ISSN 0090-5992. S2CID 129150302.

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