Tarusa is known to have existed since 1246, when it was the capital of one of the Upper Oka Principalities—the Principality of Tarusa. The first ruler of this principality was Grand Duke Yury Mikhaylovich, the son of Grand Duke Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov. Later, the local rulers moved their seats to Meshchovsk and Boryatino, and Tarusa was subjugated by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the late 14th century. Tarusa was used as a stronghold at the southern approaches to Moscow in the 15th-17th centuries.