Muravsky Trail
Encyclopedia
Muravsky Trail or Murava Route was an important trade route and according to the Russian historiography a favourite invasion route of the Crimean Tatars
during the Russo-Crimean Wars
of the 16th and early 17th centuries. It was also used somewhat for peaceful trade. As described in the Book to the Great Chart of Muscovy (1627), the route went north from the Tatar fortress of Or Qapı (Perekop
), the gateway of the Crimean peninsula, east of the Dnieper to the Muscovite fortress of Tula
, 193 km south of Moscow.
To avoid major river crossings, it followed the high ground between the basins of the Dnieper and Don, making an almost straight line from the Dnieper bend to Tula. There were eleven moderate fords. It ran mostly through thinly populated tallgrass steppe country avoiding forests, marshes and river crossings ('Muravá' is an old Slavic word for prairie or grassland). Apart from the main route, there were number of branches and bypaths, of which the Kalmius
Trail and the Izyum Trail were by far the most important.
Between 1500 and 1550 there were 43 Tatars' raids using this trail. In the wake of the Russo-Crimean War (1571), it became increasingly clear that only a defense line south of the main zasechnaya cherta would put an end to annual incursions. Such a chain of forts and obstructions, the "Belgorod Defense Line", was constructed at the behest of Boris Godunov
, including, among other fortified settlements, the towns of Livny
(1586), Voronezh
(1586), Kursk
(1587, rebuilt), Yelets
(1592, rebuilt), Stary Oskol
(1593), Valuyki
(1593) and Belgorod
(1596, rebuilt).
After this, the Crimeans began avoiding this route. It later became a main route used by the Cossacks to raid the Crimea.
counterattack. The need to guard and escort captives kept the ratio of captives to raiders to about 1:3.
Individual Mirzas would lead smaller-scale raids with a few thousand men. They would send out scouts to look for enemy forces and capture prisoners for interrogation and then sweep through an area 10 to twelve leagues broad, rendezvousing at a pre-arranged point each night. If attacked they would split into bands of about 100 men ('chambuly') and scatter in all directions, reuniting later.
(about 1100 km south of Moscow) and ran northeast parallel to the Sea of Azov
coast about two thirds of the way and then swung north along the watershed between the basins of the Dnieper River
and Donets. There it spread into branches through what later became the Sloboda Ukraine
, the branches rejoining at Stary Oskol
(618 km south of Moscow) and Livny
(about 375 km south of Moscow). From Livny it went directly north to Tula
and crossed the Oka River
at Serpukhov
almost directly south of Moscow. In the spread out section there were three branches. The western branch was the Muravsky proper which ran northwest to about Valki and then northeast west of Belgorod
to Livny. The center or Izium Trail seems to have run directly north along the south-flowing part of the Donets and joined the Muravsky at Stary Oskol
. The eastern or Kalmius
branch ran east of the Donets and joined the others south of Livny
. East of these was a route used by the Lesser Nogai Horde which ran from Azov
to Livny. The Nogai Road proper was much farther east and ran from near Stalingrad through Kozlov
to the Oka at Ryazan
.
He also mentions three trails running northwest from Perekop to Galicia. The Czarny Trail went north toward Kiev with a branch at the latitude of Cherkasy going west to Galicia. The Kuczman Trail followed the south bank of the Bug and the Wolsky Trail followed the shore of the Black Sea and then the Dniester River.
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
during the Russo-Crimean Wars
Russo-Crimean Wars
The Russo-Crimean Wars were fought between the forces of the Muscovy and the invading Tatars of the Crimean Khanate.-History:...
of the 16th and early 17th centuries. It was also used somewhat for peaceful trade. As described in the Book to the Great Chart of Muscovy (1627), the route went north from the Tatar fortress of Or Qapı (Perekop
Perekop
Perekop is a village located at the Perekop Isthmus connecting Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the Fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea...
), the gateway of the Crimean peninsula, east of the Dnieper to the Muscovite fortress of Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
, 193 km south of Moscow.
To avoid major river crossings, it followed the high ground between the basins of the Dnieper and Don, making an almost straight line from the Dnieper bend to Tula. There were eleven moderate fords. It ran mostly through thinly populated tallgrass steppe country avoiding forests, marshes and river crossings ('Muravá' is an old Slavic word for prairie or grassland). Apart from the main route, there were number of branches and bypaths, of which the Kalmius
Kalmius
The Kalmius is one of two rivers flowing through the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The other river called the Kalchik flows into the Kalmius. The Kalmius flows into the Sea of Azov near the Azovstal steel manufacturing combine....
Trail and the Izyum Trail were by far the most important.
Between 1500 and 1550 there were 43 Tatars' raids using this trail. In the wake of the Russo-Crimean War (1571), it became increasingly clear that only a defense line south of the main zasechnaya cherta would put an end to annual incursions. Such a chain of forts and obstructions, the "Belgorod Defense Line", was constructed at the behest of Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
, including, among other fortified settlements, the towns of Livny
Livny
Livny is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. Population: The town apparently originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on the bank of the Livenka River, although some believe that a town had existed on the spot previous to the Mongol invasion of Rus...
(1586), Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
(1586), Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
(1587, rebuilt), Yelets
Yelets
Yelets is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population: -History:Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It is mentioned in historical documents as far back as 1146, when it belonged to the Princes of Ryazan...
(1592, rebuilt), Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow, on the Oskol River. Population: 221,163 ; 215,898 ; -History:...
(1593), Valuyki
Valuyki
Valuyki is a town in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Valuy and Oskol Rivers, some east of Belgorod. Population: 35,322 ; 35,790 ; 34,863 ; 27,000 ....
(1593) and Belgorod
Belgorod
-Twin towns/sister cities:Belgorod is twinned with: Wakefield, England, United Kingdom Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia Opole, Poland Vyshhorod, Ukraine Kharkiv, Ukraine-External links:...
(1596, rebuilt).
After this, the Crimeans began avoiding this route. It later became a main route used by the Cossacks to raid the Crimea.
Tactics
The Tatars preferred to invade at harvest time when forage was plentiful. Smaller raids were made in early winter when the rivers were frozen. Davies says that the journey to Moscow took 55 days. Larger raids were led by the Khan in person. The core of his force was a guard of 200-1000 musketeers with light artillery and supply carts that could be formed into a wagenburg. The main force consisted of horse archers with reflex bows and short stirups. They also had sabers and lances and the richer ones might have chain mail, helmets or muskets. Each man took one or two spare horses. They carried few supplies, preferring to live off the land. The army traveled in columns. Beauplan estimated a column as 800 to 1,000 paces across and up to 10 leagues long. 'It was an amazing sight since 80,000 Tatars are accompanied by more than 200,000 horses'. On nearing enemy territory they camped for a few days and sent out scouts to be sure there were no significant forces in the area. After penetration they sent out two wings of up to 10,000 men each from the main body to sweep the country for 10 or 12 leagues around taking women, children, horses, sheep and cattle and those men who chose not to resist. When the wings returned to the main corps, other wings were sent out in the same manner. Having 'harvested' an area they withdrew by a different route. They did not waste time attacking fortified towns and avoided fighting organized forces unless they were forced to defend themselves. The returning columns, laden with booty, were most vulnerable tocounterattack. The need to guard and escort captives kept the ratio of captives to raiders to about 1:3.
Individual Mirzas would lead smaller-scale raids with a few thousand men. They would send out scouts to look for enemy forces and capture prisoners for interrogation and then sweep through an area 10 to twelve leagues broad, rendezvousing at a pre-arranged point each night. If attacked they would split into bands of about 100 men ('chambuly') and scatter in all directions, reuniting later.
Route
According to Davies, the trail started at PerekopPerekop
Perekop is a village located at the Perekop Isthmus connecting Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the Fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea...
(about 1100 km south of Moscow) and ran northeast parallel to the Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
coast about two thirds of the way and then swung north along the watershed between the basins of the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
and Donets. There it spread into branches through what later became the Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine was a historical region which developed and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the southwestern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia....
, the branches rejoining at Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow, on the Oskol River. Population: 221,163 ; 215,898 ; -History:...
(618 km south of Moscow) and Livny
Livny
Livny is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. Population: The town apparently originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on the bank of the Livenka River, although some believe that a town had existed on the spot previous to the Mongol invasion of Rus...
(about 375 km south of Moscow). From Livny it went directly north to Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
and crossed the Oka River
Oka River
Oka is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir, and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as to the town of Kaluga. Its length exceeds...
at Serpukhov
Serpukhov
Serpukhov is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which is situated at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers. It is located south from Moscow on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow—Tula railway passes through the town. Population: -History:...
almost directly south of Moscow. In the spread out section there were three branches. The western branch was the Muravsky proper which ran northwest to about Valki and then northeast west of Belgorod
Belgorod
-Twin towns/sister cities:Belgorod is twinned with: Wakefield, England, United Kingdom Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia Opole, Poland Vyshhorod, Ukraine Kharkiv, Ukraine-External links:...
to Livny. The center or Izium Trail seems to have run directly north along the south-flowing part of the Donets and joined the Muravsky at Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol
Stary Oskol is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow, on the Oskol River. Population: 221,163 ; 215,898 ; -History:...
. The eastern or Kalmius
Kalmius
The Kalmius is one of two rivers flowing through the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The other river called the Kalchik flows into the Kalmius. The Kalmius flows into the Sea of Azov near the Azovstal steel manufacturing combine....
branch ran east of the Donets and joined the others south of Livny
Livny
Livny is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. Population: The town apparently originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on the bank of the Livenka River, although some believe that a town had existed on the spot previous to the Mongol invasion of Rus...
. East of these was a route used by the Lesser Nogai Horde which ran from Azov
Azov
-External links:** *...
to Livny. The Nogai Road proper was much farther east and ran from near Stalingrad through Kozlov
Kozlov
Kozlov , or Kozlova is a common Russian surname. It is derived from the sobriquet ""...
to the Oka at Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...
.
He also mentions three trails running northwest from Perekop to Galicia. The Czarny Trail went north toward Kiev with a branch at the latitude of Cherkasy going west to Galicia. The Kuczman Trail followed the south bank of the Bug and the Wolsky Trail followed the shore of the Black Sea and then the Dniester River.