Russians lived under Tatar overlordship from 1236 until 1452. The Tatars invaded a Kievan Rus' that was being destroyed by internal warfare. The first attack against the Russians occurred in 1223. The Tatars swiftly defeated the combined forces of Russians and Polovtsy but then left, not to return for another fourteen years. At the time, the Tatars had been on a return trip from conquests in northern China and central Asia. In 1236 the Tatars began their attack on Russia in earnest. From 1236-1238 the Tatars gained many important Russian grounds, including Novgorod. While the majority of the cities were destroyed by the Tatars, Novgorod, which was surrounded by dense forest and bogs was only forced into paying tribute to the Tatars. In 1240 the Tatars renewed their attacks and conquered Kiev and Galicia and also Hungary and southern Poland in their attempts to conquer Europe. This westward assault on Europe only ended when the Great Khan Ogedei died and the campaign was called off. The Tatars divided their vast territory into khanates and Russia became part of the khanate known as the Golden Horde.

The Tatars did not directly rule the people of Russia. Instead, the princes maintained their ruling positions while paying tribute to Tatars. The khans granted official appointments to the princes. Initially, the tribute was collected by Tatars and all of the princes were of equal importance. However, Tatar rule eventually weakened and the prince of Moscow was put in charge of collecting the tribute. The prince of Moscow then became the Grand Prince, and Kiev was no longer be an important city in Russia. Other northern cities such as Novgorod and Tver also gained importance.

The Tatars destroyed many Russian cities and killed thousands of Russians. However, they left many of Russia's cultural elements. Russians were allowed to continue worship under the Russian Orthodox church, and the princes continued to rule. Also, by appointing a Grand Prince the Tatars reinforced the idea among the Russians that the Grand Prince held dominion over Russia and the rest of the princes. Despite not being a political entity, the Russian people continued to be bound together by the ideology of the Russian Orthodox church and by their cultural identity.

The northern princes of Russia attempted to act independently of the Tatars, and each had their own army, capital and form of government. These princes were all descendents of Riurik and so the Riurik dynasty remained intact. It is from these northern areas that the Russians began to regain their power and defeat the Tatars. The family of Yuri Dolgoruky, who was the Prince of Rostov until 1157 gained control over the rest of the princes. His son, Andrei Bogolyubsky took Kiev, and with it the right to the title of Grand Prince. From then on all of his descendants would be Grand Princes. Prince Alexander Nevsky, who ruled from Novgorod, was a famous prince of this family. He defeated a Swedish invasion along the Neva River, earning him the name Nevsky. He also began the consolidation of power for his family by cooperating with the Tatars, freeing himself to concentrate on gaining power in the north.

His descendants followed this practice and by the reign of Ivan the Great, a free Russia was beginning to form. By this time, the Grand Princes had moved to Moscow. Ivan the Great began what came to be known as "the gathering of the Russian land." He set out to conquer all of the lands that had been a part of Kievan Rus'. Ivan the Great gained control of Novgorod, Tver, and parts of Poland. He was however, still paying tribute to the Tatars. They could see that he was quickly gaining more power than them and sent troops to Moscow to take the city. Ivan the Great sent his troops to meet the Tatars, but a battle never happened. Instead, when the promised Lithuanian reinforcements didn't show up, the Tatars retreated after a seven month stand off. In 1480 the year of this stand off, Moscow and its territories ceased paying tribute and became officially free of Tatar overlordship.