History: Science or Fiction? Russia-Horde. Film 8 of 24

Everyone seems to be aware of the existence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Everyone knows that as a result of a foreign invasion in 1237, for centuries Russia was bogged down in the darkness of poverty, ignorance, cruelty and violence, leading to economic and political dependence on its enslavers, the Mongol khans and the rulers of the Golden Horde. The Mongol-Tatar hordes were wild and nomadic tribes that did not have their own written language and culture. They invaded the territory of medieval Russia on horseback from the distant borders of China, conquered it, and subjected it to slavery for three hundred years from the 13th to the 15th century. It is believed that the Mongol-Tatar invasion brought incalculable troubles to the Russian people. It resulted in huge human losses, destruction and plunder of material and spiritual values, throwing the economic and cultural development of Russia three centuries back in comparison to Europe. Everyone knows about it now. However, was it truly so?