From the Founding of Heian-kyō to the Ōnin War: What Was Happening in Kyiv

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica’s entry on the Heian period, Japan’s capital moved from Nara to Heian-kyō (Kyoto) in 794, and the Heian period runs from that year to 1185. According to the same Britannica’s entry on Kyivan Rus, Oleg, ruler of Novgorod, seized Smolensk and Kyiv in 882, and Kyiv became the capital of Kyivan Rus’ because of its position on the Dnipro River — 88 years after Heian-kyō was founded.

Where the Date 882 Comes From

Britannica presents 882 as the traditional account given by the Primary Chronicle. The same entry states explicitly that both the origins of the Kyivan state and the derivation of the name “Rus'” remain matters of debate among historians, and that the Primary Chronicle itself was compiled in Kyiv in the 12th century. The year 882, then, rests on a record written more than two hundred years after the events it describes.

The chronicle records that Oleg united the region’s Slavic and Finnic groups, defeated the Khazars, and concluded a commercial treaty with Constantinople in 911 (Britannica).

Around the Time of the 988 Baptism, in Heian-kyō

According to Britannica, Kyiv’s adoption of Christianity came in 988, arising from an arrangement in which the Byzantine emperor Basil II gave his sister in marriage in exchange for military support and the adoption of Christianity.

For Heian-kyō in the same period, Britannica’s entry on the Heian period states that, from the mid-9th century, the Fujiwara family dominated the court by marrying their daughters to imperial successors, and that their influence peaked under Fujiwara no Michinaga, who led the court from 995 to 1027. The year 988 falls shortly before that. Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji is an 11th-century work that has been read as a record of aristocratic society (same entry).

Kyiv in December 1240, and Japan in 1274 and 1281

The first appearance of Mongol forces in this region came 17 years before Kyiv was sacked. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica’s entry on the Battle of the Kalka River, on 31 May 1223 forces led by Jebe and Subutai defeated a combined army of Rus’ princes and Cumans on the banks of the Kalka River. The same entry identifies the Kalka as the present-day Kalchyk River in southeastern Ukraine, which flows into the Sea of Azov. The Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine’s entry on the Kalka River (whose print edition first appeared in Volume 2, 1989; hereafter IEU) likewise states that the army of Kyivan Rus’ was routed after a three-day battle in 1223. According to IEU’s entry on Batu Khan, Batu invaded Rus’ in 1237 and sacked Pereiaslav and Chernihiv in 1239 and Kyiv in 1240.

IEU’s entry on Kyiv (updated 2017) records that in December 1240 the Mongol-Tatar army of Batu Khan sacked Kyiv and drastically reduced its population. The same entry states that Kyiv recovered somewhat in the late 13th century under princes subordinate to the Golden Horde, and that in 1362–63 Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania incorporated the Kyiv region into his own domain.

Britannica’s entry on the Kamakura period records that two Mongol expeditions (in 1274 and 1281) were repelled, and that the financial burden of that defense worsened the shogunate’s internal weaknesses. The same entry goes on to cover Emperor Go-Daigo’s uprising in 1331 and the shogunate’s collapse in 1333.

Both are events involving Mongol forces, but the outcomes were different. Kyiv was sacked and then placed under princes subordinate to the Golden Horde, while Japan repelled two expeditions and bore the cost of that defense. None of the sources used here indicate any contact between the two regions.

The Decade of the Ōnin War, and Kyiv under Lithuanian Rule

According to Britannica, the Ōnin War began in 1467 and continued until 1477, with much of the fighting taking place within the city of Kyoto itself. The same entry states that this war effectively ended the power of the Ashikaga shogunate and led into the Sengoku (Warring States) period, roughly 1467 to 1600.

According to IEU’s entry on Kyiv, Algirdas’s descendants ruled Kyiv until 1470; from 1471 to 1569 it was governed by Lithuanian starostas, and in 1471 Kyiv became the seat of the Kyiv voivodeship. Between 1494 and 1497 the whole city came under Magdeburg Law. Meanwhile, in 1482, the Crimean khan Meñli I Giray, allied with Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow, sacked Kyiv and sent chalices and other items taken from Saint Sophia Cathedral to Moscow. The same entry states that the upper town then remained devastated for more than a century.

The Crimean Khanate that struck Kyiv was, at that point, a state only a few decades old. Sources differ on its founding year: Britannica’s entry on the khanate of Crimea gives 1443, while IEU’s entry on Crimea (updated 2022) gives 1449. The year it accepted Ottoman suzerainty is likewise inconsistent — 1475 in Britannica, 1478 in IEU. Both years fall around 1477, the year the Ōnin War ended.

Where One Era Ends and Another Begins Differs by Source

The periodization of Japanese history differs by source in the year each era is said to begin.

Whether the Kamakura period begins in 1185, around 1190, or 1192 depends on what is taken as its starting point. Britannica distinguishes between Minamoto no Yoritomo establishing his own military administration (the shogunate) after the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185, and his authority being formally recognized when he was granted the title of shogun in 1192 — and for periodization purposes adopts 1192. Asia for Educators adopts 1185.

Arranging events into a simple “in year X, this happened” format hides this kind of disagreement. When comparing the history of different regions, it is safer not to assume that one periodization is more certain than the other.

Events Lined Up by Year

What Simply Lining Things Up Cannot Tell You

This article lines up events that took place in different places during the same period. Their appearing side by side does not mean they influenced each other. There are cases, such as the expansion of the Mongol Empire, where a single force reached both regions — but even then, the outcomes are recorded separately for each region.