Originally, the state of the Golden Horde was a part of the Mongol Empire. In 1237, Batu Khan, the ruler of the Golden Horde, invaded the Kievan Rus, burning and looting its foremost cities Kiev, Vladimir, Ryazan’, Chernihiv, as well as others. At the time, the Mongol army greatly outnumbered the Russians.

After the invasion, the Mongols retreated to the steppe, because it wasn’t their aim to annex the Russian territories. Instead, the Mongols let the Russians decide for themselves which princes may rule in Russian cities – but in order to get permission, Russian princes had to travel to the Golden Horde to pay their respects and gain approval to rule. Also, the Russians were made to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, even after 1259, when it became a separate khanate from the Mongol Empire. This system of dependence was called the Tatar-Mongol Yoke.

The Yoke greatly affected Russian culture. Technology, literacy, and production all deteriorated greatly during the Yoke. However, in 1380, Prince Dmitry of Moscow famously defeated the Horde’s army in the Battle of Kulikovo, which began the long-awaited liberation of the Russian lands. The Yoke formally ended in 1480, when Ivan the Great of Moscow turned the Tatar armies back after the standoff on the Ugra river. Russian lands had become independent again.