1240-1480 - the years in which the Russian lands were under the yoke of the Golden Horde. The feudal fragmentation and devastation of the Russian lands only played into the hands of the Tatar-Mongol khans.
Who collected the tribute
Despite the fact that Russian soldiers bravely fought for their lands, Batu's troops turned out to be stronger. This was due to the fragmentation that reigned in Russia among the princes. They could not unite in the face of danger, and as a result, the Golden Horde imposed a yoke on the Russian lands and imposed a tribute. Thus, the princes found themselves in vassal dependence on the Mongol khan.
Russia fell into economic and political dependence on the Horde, one of the key moments of which was the collection of tribute. For 200 years of Tatar rule, Russian princes brought tribute, otherwise - the Horde exit, yasak.
The Horde exit was collected from all Russian people and lands. The exception was the clergy. It was not taxed. The first census of Russian lands was carried out by the Mongol-Tatars in connection with the collection of tribute.
Failure to pay tribute was considered a grievous offense and was severely punished, therefore the princes tried to pay systematically so as not to incur the wrath of the Mongol-Tatars on their lands. The amount of the tribute was completely dependent on the desire and will of the khan, that is, it was not fixed anywhere. In the 13th century, tax collection from Russian cities was carried out by Baskaki tax farmers, who came from Muslims. In this regard, uprisings arose, which often ended in bloodshed.
This, among other things, influenced the decision to transfer powers to collect the Horde output to the Russian princes. However, not every prince could be awarded such an honor. The Russian prince needed to get a label to collect tribute from his cities in the Horde. Initially, only the Grand Duke of Vladimir received such a privilege, and eventually the princes of Tver, Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod.
It is worth saying that gradually the Russian princes began to use the label to strengthen their own political positions. According to historians, the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita collected a tax in excess of the required amount, leaving part of the funds for the needs of his principality. With these funds, he erected the Moscow Kremlin.
After the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, the collection of tribute became more and more irregular. This continued until Khan Akhmat tried to collect tax from Ivan III. This ended with the overthrow of the yoke in 1480.
About the amount of tribute
Initially, the Horde established that tribute should be collected in the amount of tithes, that is, a tenth of the income. Subsequently, the census of the population of Russia ceased to be carried out and the tax was taken from the "plow". The Mongol-Tatars took half a dollar from the plow.
