This time the invaders came to stay, and Batu Khan built a capital, called Sarai, or Sarai Batu ( Batu’s Palaces) on the lower Volga.
Here the commander of the Golden Horde, as the western section of the Tartar or Mongol empire was called, fixed his golden palace city and represented his sovereign the grand khan who lived with the Great Horde in the Orkhon Valley.
Here they had their headquarters and held parts of Rus' in subjection for nearly three centuries.
All of the Russian states, including Novgorod, Smolensk, Galich and Pskov, submitted to the Tatar-Mongol rule.

The term by which this subjection is commonly designated, the Mongol or Tatar "yoke", suggests terrible oppression, but in reality these nomadic invaders from Mongolia were not such cruel, oppressive taskmasters.
In the first place, they never settled in the country, and they had little direct dealing with the inhabitants.
In accordance with the admonitions of Genghis Khan to his children and grandchildren, they retained their pastoral mode of life, so that the subject peoples, agriculturists and dwellers in towns were not disturbed in their ordinary avocations.
The Golden Horde Tartars instituted census, taxes and tributes on the conquered lands, which were usually collected by local princes and brought to Sarai.
It was only in the 14th and 15th centuries, with the rise of the Tatar khanates, that slave raids on the Slavic population became significant, with the purpose of trading slaves with the Ottoman Empire.
The raids were catastrophic for both Muscovy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and they largely prevented the settlement of the "Wild Fields" – the Russian steppes extending from about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Moscow to the Black Sea – and they ultimately contributed to the development of the Cossacks.

In religious matters, the Mongols were extremely tolerant.
When they first appeared in Europe, they were shamanists, and as such they had no religious fanaticism.
After adopting Islam they remained as tolerant as before, and the khan of the Golden Horde, who first became a Muslim, allowed the Rus' to found a Christian bishopric in his capital.
Nogai Khan, half a century later, married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor and gave his own daughter in marriage to a Rus' prince, Theodor the Black.
Some modern revisionist Russian historians (most notably the Soviet era historian and "Neo-Eurasianist" ideologist Lev Gumilev) even postulate that there was no invasion at all.
According to them, the Rus' princes concluded a defensive alliance with the Horde in order to repel attacks of the fanatical Teutonic Knights, which posed a much greater threat to the Rus' religion and culture.

These points represent the bright side of Tartar rule.
So long as a powerful kingdom of nomads was established on the doorstep of Russia, the country was under threat and liable to be overrun at anytime by them.
Though invasions were not frequent, but when they occurred they caused an incalculable amount of devastation and suffering.
In the intervals the people had to pay a fixed tribute.
At first it was collected by Tatar tax-gatherers; by about 1259 it was regulated by a census of the population; and finally its collection was entrusted to the native princes, so the people were no longer brought into direct contact with the Tatar officials.
This time the invaders came to stay, and Batu Khan built a capital, called Sarai, or Sarai Batu ( Batu’s Palaces) on the lower Volga. Here the commander of the Golden Horde, as the western section of the Tartar or Mongol empire was called, fixed his golden palace city and represented his sovereign the grand khan who lived with the Great Horde in the Orkhon Valley. Here they had their headquarters and held parts of Rus' in subjection for nearly three centuries. All of the Russian states, including Novgorod, Smolensk, Galich and Pskov, submitted to the Tatar-Mongol rule.
The term by which this subjection is commonly designated, the Mongol or Tatar "yoke", suggests terrible oppression, but in reality these nomadic invaders from Mongolia were not such cruel, oppressive taskmasters. In the first place, they never settled in the country, and they had little direct dealing with the inhabitants. In accordance with the admonitions of Genghis Khan to his children and grandchildren, they retained their pastoral mode of life, so that the subject peoples, agriculturists and dwellers in towns were not disturbed in their ordinary avocations. The Golden Horde Tartars instituted census, taxes and tributes on the conquered lands, which were usually collected by local princes and brought to Sarai. It was only in the 14th and 15th centuries, with the rise of the Tatar khanates, that slave raids on the Slavic population became significant, with the purpose of trading slaves with the Ottoman Empire. The raids were catastrophic for both Muscovy and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and they largely prevented the settlement of the "Wild Fields" – the Russian steppes extending from about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Moscow to the Black Sea – and they ultimately contributed to the development of the Cossacks.
In religious matters, the Mongols were extremely tolerant. When they first appeared in Europe, they were shamanists, and as such they had no religious fanaticism. After adopting Islam they remained as tolerant as before, and the khan of the Golden Horde, who first became a Muslim, allowed the Rus' to found a Christian bishopric in his capital. Nogai Khan, half a century later, married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor and gave his own daughter in marriage to a Rus' prince, Theodor the Black. Some modern revisionist Russian historians (most notably the Soviet era historian and "Neo-Eurasianist" ideologist Lev Gumilev) even postulate that there was no invasion at all. According to them, the Rus' princes concluded a defensive alliance with the Horde in order to repel attacks of the fanatical Teutonic Knights, which posed a much greater threat to the Rus' religion and culture.
These points represent the bright side of Tartar rule. So long as a powerful kingdom of nomads was established on the doorstep of Russia, the country was under threat and liable to be overrun at anytime by them. Though invasions were not frequent, but when they occurred they caused an incalculable amount of devastation and suffering. In the intervals the people had to pay a fixed tribute. At first it was collected by Tatar tax-gatherers; by about 1259 it was regulated by a census of the population; and finally its collection was entrusted to the native princes, so the people were no longer brought into direct contact with the Tatar officials.
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'