Crimean invasion of Russia (1521)

Invasion of Muscovy
Part of Russo-Crimean Wars
Tatar invasion of Russia in 1521
Date 1521 Location Moscow, Principality of Moscow Result Crimean victory Vasili III of Russia signs a treaty formalising his status as a tributary of the Crimean Khanate [1] [2] [3] Khan lost the Vasily's charter and Muscovy got rid of its tributary status
Belligerents
Crimean Khanate Zaporozhian Cossacks [4] [5] Grand Duchy of Lithuania [6] Nogai Horde [6] Khanate of Kazan [6] Circassians [7]	Principality of Moscow
Commanders and leaders
Mehmed I Giray Ostap Dashkevych Sahib I Giray	Vasily III Ivan Andreevich Sheremetyev   † Vladimir Mikhailovich Karamyshev-Kurbsky   † Yuri Mikhailovich Zamyatnin  † Yakov Mikhailovich Zamyatnin  † Fyodor Vasilyevich Lopata-Obolensky  (POW) Ivan Khabar-Simsky
Units involved
100,000 [6] Modern sources: 30,000–35,000 [8] 20,000–25,000 300	35,000–40,000 [9] or 50,000 [6]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy ~30,000 enslaved

The Invasion of Muscovy occurred in the year 1521. The invasion of Muscovy was led by Mehmed I Giray of the Crimean Khanate, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. ^[1]

Background

In 1521 the Khan of the Crimean Khanate, Mehmed I Giray, prepared a great invasion of Russia. ^[1] The ruler of Kazan was despised by his people and Mehmed Giray took advantage of this, he seized the city and appointed his brother as its ruler. ^[10] Having seized Kazan Mehmed Giray collected a great force and began his advance towards Muscovy. ^[10] The Crimean invasion army was supported by the forces of Ostap Dashkevych. ^[4]

Battle

He met Vasili at the banks of the Oka river and crushed the Russian army. ^{[1] [10]} Mehmeds brother Shihab Giray joined him at Kolomna massacring people and desecrating churches as he advanced. ^[10] The monastery of St Nicholas was burnt as well as the village of Ostrof which was Vasili's favourite residence. ^[10] The Crimean Tatars, now drunken off the hydromel in Vasili's cellars, overlooked Moscow. ^[10] Vasili reportedly humiliated himself, he was forced to pay tribute and made to sign a treaty formalising his status as dependent on and a tributary of the Crimean Khanate. ^{[1] [2] [3] [10] [11]} The Tatar general reportedly built his own statue in Moscow and made Vasili prostrate before it. ^[12]

Aftermath

Following the submission of Vasilli, Mehmed Giray withdrew, reportedly in 1523 after news of an offensive against Crimea by the Astrakhan Khanate. ^[13] During his withdrawal Mehmed was attacked by the cannonballs of the governor of Riazan who took the humiliating treaty from him, however 30,000 prisoners were taken to Kaffa and sold to the Turks. ^{[1] [14]}

References

1. The History of Russia from the Earliest Times to 1877, Volume 1. By Alfred Rambaud.
2. Histoire moderne depuis le grand schisme d'occident (1378) jusqu'à 1789, Volume 1. Emile Lefranc.
3. Histoire Des Gouvernemens Du Nord, Ou De l'Origine & des Progres du Gouvernement des Provinces-Unies, du Danemark, de la Suede ... Ouvrage traduit de l'Anglois de M. Williams. Volume 3.
4. Shcherbak, Vitaliy Oleksiyovych. "Дашкевич Остафій". resource.history.org.ua. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
5. "ВЭ/ВТ/Казацкие Малороссийские войны — Викитека". ru.wikisource.org (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-09-18.
6. "Sobytiya krymskiy pohod na Moskvu 1521" . Retrieved 2025-09-27.
7. Хотко, Самир Хамидович (2008). Цивилизация Кабарды (in Russian). Издательство С.-Петербургского университета. pp. 230–231.
8. Penskoy, V. V. "The Size and Deployment of Moscow and Tatar Troops During the 1521 Campaign." War and Weapons: New Research and Materials. Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientific and Practical Conference, May 18–20, 2011, vol. 2, VIMAIViVS, St. Petersburg, 2011, pp. 194–209. ISBN 978-5-903501-12-0.
9. Penskoy, V. V. "The Size and Deployment of Moscow and Tatar Troops During the 1521 Campaign." War and Weapons: New Research and Materials. Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientific and Practical Conference, May 18–20, 2011, vol. 2, VIMAIViVS, St. Petersburg, 2011, pp. 194–209. ISBN 978-5-903501-12-0.
10. History of the Mongols: The so-called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia. 2 v. By Sir Henry Hoyle Howorth
11. Atlas Historique Des États Européens, Et De Tous Les Pays En Rapport Avec L'Europe: Composé D'Une Suite De Cartes Géographiques Et De Tableaux Chronologiques Et Généalogiques. Christian Kruse, Friedrich Kruse.
12. A General View of the World: Geographical, Historical and Philosophical; on a Plan Entirely New; in Two Volumes, Volume 2. Ezekiel Blomfield. C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley.
13. Europe in the Sixteenth Century. David Maland. Macmillan International Higher Education.
14. The Historians' History of the World, Volumes 17-18. Henry Smith Williams. Encyclopaedia britannica Company, Limited, 1926.