About the Yarliq of Ulugh Muhammad Khan Appro­ving the Rule of Grand Prince Vasily II

Abstract

Research objectives: To determine the number of yarliqs approving the right to rule over the Grand Principality of Moscow and the circumstances of their granting by Ulugh Muhammad Khan to the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasily I, as well as to his son, Vasily II. Research materials: Chronicles (mainly the official Moscow chronicles) and the wills of the Moscow Grand Princes (Dmitry Ivanovich and Vasily Dmitrievich). Results and novelty of the research: In the historiography, there is an often mentioned and supported opinion that Ulugh Muhammad Khan granted a yarliq approving the rule in the Grand Principality of Moscow to the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasily I, and to his son, Vasily. The formation of the second and third (last) wills of Vasily I is associated with its reception. In the penultimate will, allegedly drawn up before acquiring the yarliq, Vasily I bequeathed the throne to his son with some stipulations. In the final will, his intention was recorded unambiguously, something which is explained by historians by the presence of the Khan’s sanction to transfer power to the son of the Grand Prince. Based on the totality of the facts, A.A. Gorskii proposed that Vasily I had obtained the yarliq for his son in 1423, and the last will had been drawn up in the middle of 1423 to the beginning of 1425 (most likely in 1423). Turning to the sources and research on the history of the Golden Horde and on the relationship between Ulugh Muhammad and Lithuanian Grand Prince Vytautas, the grandfather of Vasily II, we can conclude that the yarliq was possibly obtained toward the end of 1424 to the beginning of 1425. If so, the last will of Vasily I could be drawn up only in that same period.

Keywords

• vasily i
• vasily ii
• vytautas
• ulugh muhammad