Yarligh system formalizes Mongol control of Russia

1246

The Golden Horde issued yarlighs, or patent letters, to Russian princes, requiring them to travel to Sarai and prostrate themselves before the khan to receive permission to rule. The system humiliated Orthodox princes but preserved their local authority, creating a Mongol-Russian administrative hybrid that would last two centuries. Moscow's later rise owed much to its princes' skill at playing the yarligh system to their advantage.