Battle of the River Kalka (p. 129)

In 1223 Kamennaya Mogila, a rock formation about six kilometres northwest of the Bergthal Colony, was the site of the Battle of the River Kalka, the decisive battle in the Mongolian conquest of Russia. The combined forces from Novgorod, Volynia and Kiev under the leadership of Msteslav the Daring were easily routed by two of the most competent generals in military history, Subudey and Jebe. The carnage lasted a mere three or four days. Only a few of the Russian soldiers were able to escape to the Dnieper. When the conquest was completed the Mongols set up their capital in the city of Sarai on the lower Volga and from there ruled Russia for two hundred and forty years.

The Battle of the River Kalka had inaugurated the darkest epoch in the history of Russia. While Russia was groaning under the Mongol yoke, the countries in Western Europe experienced the first glimpses of the age of enlightenment. A proverb taken from Russian folklore sums up their feeling towards the Mongolian period: “It is an ignominy to stand by the Kalka.”