Nizhne-Novgorod (principality)

A semi-autonomous part of the Grand Duchy of Moscovy, the Principality of Nizhne-Novgorod, or New Novgorod, centers upon the joined valleys of two great waterways, the Volga and the Oka. Much of the principality's central portion of the principality is well-developed farmland. The eastern third of the principality includes the comparably unsettled valleys of the Vetluga and Usta rivers.

The principality has a total area of 67.7 hexes, with a density of 3,232 persons per hex. It is bordered on the south by the Queendom of Harnia (Seraphina); on the west by Ryazan, Vladimir and Ivanovo; on the north by Kostroma; and on the east by Khlynov, Cheremissa and Chuvashia. It has a population of 218,811.

History

Though the river port of Nizhne-Novgorod was founded in 1221 as a small fortress on the fork of the Volga and Oka rivers, much of the principality remained unsettled until after the time of the Mongols. Nizhne-Novgorod was itself taken and devastated by the Mongols in 1238.
In 1264 the city was incorporated into the tribute-paying Principality of Vladimir but remained in fact under Tatar control. Thereafter it was tranformed into a seat of Tatar power, allowing the city to expand economically due to incoming tributes and providential treatment from the occupying foreigners.

In 1350, the city passed into the hands of the Dmitry Konstantinovich, who paid heavily in gold for Nizhne-Novgorod and for the title of Grand Duke. At the time the Tatars withdrew from the city, recognizing that their grip over the region was weakening. After their defeat at the battle of Kulikovo in 1380, Nizhne-Novgorod would cease paying any tribute at all. It would become absorbed by the Moscovite Russians in 1392.

During its forty-year period of independence, Nizhne-Novgorod developed into a vital religious center, comparable to Moskva. During this time the Laurentian Codex, a retelling of the lost Primary Chronicle, or Tale of Bygone Years, would be written - this would become a powerful artifact capable of arousing the Russian people, strengthening their martial will.

After Nizhne-Novgorod's burning by the Tatars under Edigu in 1408, the Codex would be used to restore the city and secure the city in the centuries ahead. It would be carried to the seige of Kazan in 1545 and again when - in 1612 - a local merchant succeeded in raising an army to expel Polish troops from Moskva during the Time of Troubles. This action would in turn unite Russia and strengthen the oligarchy under Michael Romanov.

Population

Production

Perhaps the most important market in Moscovy, Nizhne-Novgorod controls river traffic up and down the Volga River and into the heart of central Russia by virtue of the Oka River. It is Russia's chief link to the gnomish Kingdom of Harnia to the south, to which Pavlovo on the Oka is an important transshipment point.

References for local goods produced in Nizhne-Novgorod are as follows:

See sheet map C 04 ~ Upper Volga.

World