Muravsky Trail
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Muravsky Trail or Murava Route (; ) was an important
trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...
and an invasion route of the Crimean Nogays during the Russo-Crimean Wars of the 16th and early 17th centuries. 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 Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...
, east of the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
, to the Russian fortress of Tula, 193 km south of Moscow. To avoid major river crossings, the route followed the high ground between the basins of the Dnieper and Don, making an almost straight line from the Dnieper bend to Tula. It ran mostly through thinly populated tallgrass steppe country ('Muravá' is an old Slavic word for prairie or grassland) avoiding forests, marshes and river crossings. Apart from the main route, there were a number of branches and bypaths, of which the Kalmius Trail and the Izium Trail were by far the most important. Between 1500 and 1550, 43 Tatar raids used this trail. In the wake of the Russo-Crimean War (1571), it became increasingly clear that only a defense line south of the Great Zasechnaya cherta would put an end to annual incursions. Such a chain of eleven 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 Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
(1586),
Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...
(1587, rebuilt), Yelets (1592, rebuilt),
Stary Oskol Stary Oskol (, ) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called ''Stary Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Novy Oskol () located south. Both are on the Oskol River. History Oskol was first mentioned i ...
(1593), Valuyki (1593) and Belgorod (1596, rebuilt). After this, the Tatars began avoiding this route. It later became a main route used by the Cossacks to raid 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 Wagenburg may refer to: * Wagenburg (wagon fort), a temporary fortification made of wagons * Wagenburg (trailer park), a humorous term for trailer parks * Wagenburg (museum), the Imperial Carriage Museum in Vienna, Austria * Wagenburg (Seegräb ...
. The main force consisted of horse archers with reflex bows and short stirrups. They also had sabers and lances and the richer ones might have chain mail, helmets or muskets. Each man brought 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 were 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 these 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 to 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 ("") and scatter in all directions, reuniting later.


Route

According to Davies, Davies, Brian L, Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 2007, Map 1 and page 18 (his account seems to contradict itself in a few places. Routes would have varied and there are probably few documents) the trail started at Perekop (about 1100 km south of Moscow) and ran northeast parallel to the
Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
coast about two thirds of the way and then swung north along the watershed between the basins of the
Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
and
Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...
. There it spread into branches through
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, the branches rejoining at
Stary Oskol Stary Oskol (, ) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called ''Stary Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Novy Oskol () located south. Both are on the Oskol River. History Oskol was first mentioned i ...
(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 The 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, ...
at
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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 The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...
and joined the Muravsky at
Stary Oskol Stary Oskol (, ) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called ''Stary Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Novy Oskol () located south. Both are on the Oskol River. History Oskol was first mentioned i ...
. 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 The Lesser Nogai Horde, not to be confused with the (Greater) Nogai Horde on the Caspian, was the Nogais, Nogai Tatar territory in Krasnodar Krai, Kuban (on the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov), allied with the Crimean Khanate, during the 16th ...
which ran from
Azov Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. The population is History Early settlements in the vici ...
to Livny. The Nogai Road proper was much farther east and ran from near
Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...
through Kozlov to the Oka at
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. He also mentions three trails running northwest from Perekop to Galicia. The Czarny Trail went north toward Kyiv 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 The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...
.


Branches

* Izium Trail * , named after river Kalmius


See also

Black Trail


References

{{efron Roads in Russia Crimean Khanate Tsardom of Russia 16th century in Ukraine Donbas