The Nizhny Novgorod Principality, the Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod, the Grand Principality of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod — one of the principalities of Northeastern Rus, which existed from 1341 to 1392.
Nature of the Phenomenon
The rise of Nizhny Novgorod in the first half of the 14th century led to the transfer of the capital of the newly formed principality from Suzdal to that city.
The Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality was formed in 1341, when Uzbek Khan of the Golden Horde divided the Grand Principality of Vladimir, granting Nizhny Novgorod and Gorodets to the Suzdal prince Konstantin Vasilyevich.
The development of feudal landownership and trade — particularly in the Volga Region — along with support from the Horde and Novgorod, enabled the princes of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality, Konstantin Vasilyevich and his son Dmitry, to contest the Moscow princes for the grand principality of Vladimir. Dmitry seized the grand princeship in 1360 and 1363, but each time only briefly.
From 1364 to 1382 he acted as an ally of the Moscow prince. In 1392 the Moscow Grand Prince Vasily Dmitrievich seized Nizhny Novgorod. From that point on, the Moscow grand princes held the Volga Region in their hands, although the princes of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality occasionally managed, with Mongol-Tatar assistance, to recover Nizhny Novgorod (1395, 1411–14, 1440s).
Historical Background
The existence of appanages within the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality — the chief of which was the Gorodets appanage — and pressure from the Horde intensified feudal tensions. The orientation of some Nizhny Novgorod princes toward the Mongol-Tatars ran counter to Moscow's drive for unification. In 1392 the Moscow Grand Prince Vasily I Dmitrievich seized Nizhny Novgorod. From that point on, the Moscow grand princes held the Volga Region in their hands, although the princes of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality occasionally managed, with Mongol-Tatar assistance, to recover Nizhny Novgorod (1395, 1411–1414, the 1440s).
The Governance System of the Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod
The form of administrative-territorial organization and the system of governance of the Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod reflected both the general patterns common to the development of several large principalities of Northeastern Rus and the specific features of the socioeconomic and political development of the Middle Volga region in the 13th–14th centuries. A.E. Presnyakov once wrote of the "lack of stable political forms" owing to the "brevity" of the grand principality's existence. The opposing view is defended by V.A. Kuchkin, who argues that the appanage system of the Grand Principality of Novgorod was "typical" and that "the appanage division of the Nizhny Novgorod territories was sufficiently firm and rested on an earlier foundation." Accepting these conclusions of V.A. Kuchkin as entirely convincing, one must nonetheless bear in mind that the system of internal organization — and the governance system closely connected with it — displayed a number of distinctive features: alongside the traditional division of the principality into appanages and volosts (rural districts), there existed a system of stans (administrative subdivisions), as well as territories with non-Russian and mixed populations that were nonetheless politically and administratively subordinate to the Nizhny Novgorod prince — the so-called yurts. This is revealed by a comprehensive study of Nizhny Novgorod records in chronicle compilations and documentary materials, among which a special place is occupied by two "local charters of the Grand Prince of Nizhny Novgorod Dmitry Konstantinovich," preserved in 18th-century copies.
The governance system of the Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod at its height (the 1370s–80s) can be characterized as highly flexible in its development. It combined, in a distinctive way, the traditions of earlier times, the particular political conditions in which the principality existed, and new tendencies connected with a drive toward centralization. The principality's territory, settled by a Russian population, ran in a "ribbon-like" pattern along the Oka and Volga rivers. It was divided into four districts: Nizhny Novgorod "with its district" (the grand-princely domain), the Suzdal and Gorodets appanages, and the small appanage of the Grand Prince's fourth son — the patrimonial appanage of Dmitry Nogot. The appanages were subdivided into volosts — the lowest but arguably the most stable form of administrative division. The Grand Prince, to judge from the "local charters," governed with the support of a princely-boyar council, which comprised 16 princes and boyar-patrimonial landowners and 42 dyaks (secretaries). The existence of the Strelitsky, Berezopolsky, Zakudemsky, and later the Zapyansky stans reflected the historical process of Russian settlement of these territories and the presence of extended contact zones with non-Russian-speaking tribes (Meschera, Mordva, Mari).
Moreover, in the absence of clear boundaries in these vast contact zones, one observed not only interaction and intermingling between Russians and Finno-Ugric and Turkic peoples — as researchers have usually noted — but also intermingling among those tribes themselves. A vivid example is the history of Eastern Meschera, where local Finno-Ugric tribes came under Cuman influence and even the influence of the Kara-Khitai, who gave rise to the Shirin dynasty. The history of this mutual influence among small communities still awaits detailed study. It is known, however, that as early as the 13th century, evidence allows us to establish that in Eastern Meschera — the territory on which Sarov stands — two sub-ethnic groups had formed, each with a distinct political orientation. One of them, bordering on Slavic-Russian domains, was already at that time a subject of Russian princely politics. This is connected to the chronicle record of a "Rus of Purgaz," whose territory lay to the southeast of Sarov and which apparently obstructed Russian settlement of the region and its colonization by princely retinues. By the will of Grand Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, Puresh's son — a "rotnik Yuryev" (that is, a representative of the local nobility subject to the prince, who had sworn an oath to Yuri Vsevolodovich) — together with "the Cumans" defeated "all the Mordva and the Rus of Purgaz." I believe that "Purgaz" is not a personal name, but rather most likely the title of a local Mordovian-Burtas chieftain or leader.
The stans, which made up virtually the entire appanage of the Grand Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, were apparently a more suitable form of organization and governance under conditions of unstable foreign policy, since in the 14th century the Horde exerted powerful political pressure not only on Rus but also on the smaller peoples and tribes. Within the Nizhny Novgorod stans there were fortified strongpoints, and these were particularly numerous on the southeastern frontier: Kurmysh, Kish, Sara ("Sar"), and possibly Sernach.
The sphere of territorial and political claims by the Nizhny Novgorod feudal lords expanded steadily. It encompassed vast frontier territories, and this was reflected in the title of Grand Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich of Nizhny Novgorod: "Grand Prince of Novgorod of Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal, and Gorodets, and Kurmysh, and Sar, and Bolgar, and Bolymets, and Podol, and sovereign of all the Ponizovye land of the trans-Volga yurts and of the north."
The presence of "Sarskoy" in the title is, one thinks, not coincidentally resonant with the name of the fortress on the southwestern border of the principality, "Sar." All the frontier fortresses (apparently by tradition) are associated with the names of rivers: the Kurmyshka River, the Kish River, the Sara River.
Naturally, their precise locations can only be established through further research, primarily archaeological.
In the territories designated "yurts," local self-governance traditions apparently survived, but under the patronage of the Grand Prince.
Coins of the Nizhny Novgorod Principality
Among accounts of medieval Russian rulers, the chronological understanding of the princes who minted coins in the Grand Principality of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod is the least precise, and the attribution of many of these coins is perhaps the most contested.
Coinage in the principality's main city — Nizhny Novgorod — was begun by Grand Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich (1365–1383). Judging by the number of coin varieties bearing his name that have survived, his minting began at a fairly early date. Dmitry was succeeded by his brother Boris Konstantinovich, who had previously been the appanage prince of Gorodets and had minted his own coins there. His reign in Nizhny Novgorod was interrupted several times: around 1387 he was removed from the grand-princely throne by his nephew, Prince Vasily Dmitrievich Kirdyapa, who until then had been issuing his own coins in Suzdal. Barely had Boris recovered the grand principality when, in 1392, Nizhny Novgorod was seized for a time by the Moscow Grand Prince Vasily Dmitrievich. It is possible that some of the latter's coin types, usually attributed to Moscow minting, were in fact issued in his new domain.
As grand prince, Daniil Borisovich issued coins after 1414, having also begun his minting in Suzdal. (Coins of appanage princes who subsequently acceded to the grand-princely throne are distinguished by the titles "prince" and "grand prince.") Coins of Prince Ivan Borisovich, who bore the nickname Tugy Luk (Taut Bow), are also known, as are the quite numerous coins of a consistent type issued by his son Prince Alexander Ivanovich Bryukhatyi, who died in 1418. Despite the princely title on his coins, their issuance may be attributed to Nizhny Novgorod. The latest coins of independent Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod minting are the dengas of the 1440s issued by Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Gorbaty. Anonymous Suzdal coins (bearing the place of minting) are relatively numerous.
It is generally held that after the grand principality's annexation to Moscow's domains in 1451, coinage continued for a time in Nizhny Novgorod or Suzdal in the name of the Moscow Grand Prince Vasily the Blind. However, the Suzdal coins inscribed "Grand Prince Vasily" appear too archaic for the mid- and late 15th century. They could have been issued by Vasily Dmitrievich after 1392 — or even by Vasily Kirdyapa as grand prince. For him it would have been most natural to reproduce on his grand-princely coins with such precision the emblem that appeared on his father's coins — a bird.
Relations with the Golden Horde
Relations with the Golden Horde
After the murder of Khan Janibek in 1357, the Golden Horde descended into turmoil, signaling the beginning of the unified state's disintegration. Between 1357 and 1380, more than 25 khans occupied the Golden Horde throne.
Individual Horde feudal lords consolidated their holdings in territories directly bordering the principality's southeastern frontier. In response, watchtower fortresses were built on the Kisha and Sara rivers, and outposts were established along the middle course of the Pyana (disambiguation). In 1372, the town of Kurmysh was founded on the principality's eastern border.
Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod forces periodically mounted military campaigns against the territories of the Sarai khans. The largest such campaign was organized in 1370 against the domains of the Bulgar prince Khasan (Osan).
By the mid-1370s, the influence of the temnik Mamai had consolidated within the Golden Horde, and he began sending raiding parties into the territories of the Nizhny Novgorod Volga Region. In 1377–1378 the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality suffered a series of crushing defeats. At the The Battle of Piana, the army of Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich was routed, and Nizhny Novgorod was burned by forces under the command of Arapsha.
Despite this weakened state, the principality sent its forces to take part in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380).
Interesting Facts
- In 1382, the Nizhny Novgorod princes took part in Tokhtamysh's attack on Moscow.