The vanquished were allowed to retain their land, their religion, their language, their courts of justice, and all their other institutions.
* During the Mongol domination Russia was composed of a large number of independent principalities.
The nature of the Mongol domination is well illustrated by the policy which the conquerors adopted towards the Russian Church.

For more than half a century after the conquest the religion of the Tartars was a mixture of Buddhism and Paganism, with traces of Sabaeism or fire-worship.

During this period Christianity was more than simply tolerated.

The Grand Khan Kuyuk caused a Christian chapel to be erected near his domicile, and one of his successors, Khubilai, was in the habit of publicly taking part in the Easter festivals.

In 1261 the Khan of the Golden Horde allowed the Russians to found a bishopric in his capital, and several members of his family adopted Christianity.