The Golden Horde fell apart. The most influential khans of the Tatar-Mongol yoke

The capitals of the Golden Horde Sarai-Batu (Old Sarai) and Sarai-Berke (New Sarai) are the most famous cities Golden Horde. The culture and art of the Golden Horde are closely connected with the culture of these ancient capitals.

Due to the orientation of the khans of the Golden Horde towards Islam and urban life of the Central Asian-Iranian type, a vibrant urban culture flourished in the steppes where the capitals of the Golden Horde were founded. This was the culture of watering bowls and mosaic panels on mosques, the culture of Arab astrologers, Persian poems and Islamic spiritual learning, interpreters of the Koran and algebraic mathematicians, exquisitely fine ornamentation and calligraphy. Wherein high culture the craft city of the Golden Horde was combined with phenomena that were an echo of the deeply archaic religious art of the nomads.

The cities of the Golden Horde in their heyday were a mixture of Central Asian mosques and minarets, tiles and glazed pottery with wooden frames and yurts of nomads. The mixed culture of the Golden Horde city was manifested in house-building and architecture. Thus, along with buildings of the Islamic type, row houses had many features borrowed from Central Asia: often the wall was built from panel wooden structures placed on a brick plinth. In appearance The square house had a number of features from a nomadic yurt. Often, in front of massive brick houses, an entrance was built in the form of a pavement, bounded by L-shaped walls, which can be found in the architecture of the 13th century. in Mongolia, etc. Heating systems such as kanas were borrowed from the regions of Central Asia, and the type of underground hypocausts - from Volga Bulgaria.

In the cities of the Golden Horde lived Polovtsians, Bulgarians, Slavs, people from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Crimea, etc. It was with their hands that this urban culture was created. In the cities of the Golden Horde there was literary language, so-called "Volga Turks", on which several extant literary works. The delicacy of feelings, the delicate aroma of flowers, the beauty of women were glorified in this language, and at the same time in this literature there were many democratic motives and expressions people's thoughts and wisdom.

The cities of the Golden Horde were filled with imported artistic products, and although they are not a product of the Golden Horde’s own decorative arts, but they show high level life, aesthetic needs, reflect to some extent the rather eclectic taste of its population.

Initially, the main political center of the Golden Horde, its capital was Sarai-Batu or Old Sarai (the village of Selitrennoye, Astrakhan region) - a city built by Khan Batu (1243-1255) in 1254 (according to V. Rubruk). As a result of the internecine struggle of the khans and Timur’s campaign (1395) the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu, was badly damaged. The city of Saray-Batu was finally destroyed in 1480.

There were many palaces, mosques, craft quarters, etc. in Sarai-Batu. Near the monumental buildings, archaeologists also found traces of yurts, which were probably used in summer period. In the vicinity of the capital there was a large necropolis.

One of the palaces in the city of Sarai-Batu consisted of 36 rooms with different purposes. The 1 m thick walls were laid without a foundation. The walls of the front rooms were painted with floral patterns, the floors were laid out with red square and hexagonal bricks, held together with white alabaster mortar. The central hall of the palace in Sarai-Batu had an area of ​​200 square meters. m, its walls were decorated with mosaic and majolica panels with gilding. A bathhouse with underground heating was attached to the palace; there was also a bathroom, in the middle of which there was a square bathtub made of brick. Water came into it through a water supply system made of clay pipes, and there was also a combined bathroom.

The city of Saray-Berke (New Saray, Saray Al-Jedid) on the river. Akhtube (Tsarevskoe settlement near Volgograd) is the capital of the Golden Horde, built around 1260 by Khan Berke (1255 - 1266), Batu’s brother. The beginning of the Islamization of the Golden Horde is associated with the name of Khan Berke. Under Khan Berke Golden Horde became virtually independent from the Mongol Empire. The heyday of the city of Saray-Berke occurred in the first half of the 14th century. After 1361, Saray-Berke was repeatedly captured by various contenders for the khan's throne. In 1395 the city was destroyed by Timur.

As a result of archaeological excavations, multi-room palaces of the nobility were discovered in New Sarai, built of baked brick, with wide walls, with a floor raised on a powerful substructure, with a long facade, decorated at the corners in the Central Asian manner with two decorative towers-minarets and with a deep portal in the form of a niche, with polychrome painting on the plastered walls.

The khans of the Golden Horde brought scientists, astronomers, theologians, and poets from Central Asia, Iran, Egypt and Iraq. In New Sarai lived the famous doctor from Khorezm Noman ad-Din, about whom it was said that “he studied logic, dialectics, medicine” and was one of the most educated people of its time. We can judge the development of astronomy and geodesy in New Sarai from the finds of fragments of an astrolabe and quadrants.

What Saray-Batu and Saray-Berke had in common was the development small (maximum 6 by 6 m) one-room residential buildings, square in plan, with walls made of wood or mud brick. In the middle of the house, along three walls in the shape of the letter “P,” there was a warm couch (kan) with a firebox at one end and a vertical chimney at the other. In the capitals of the Golden Horde there was a water supply system, a system of city swimming pools and fountains to supply residents with water, sewer drains were laid from wooden pipes, and there were public toilets (separately for women and men).

A.A. Sharibzhanova.

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The Golden Horde was formed in the Middle Ages, and it was a truly powerful state. Many countries tried to support him a good relationship. Cattle breeding became the main occupation of the Mongols, and they knew nothing about the development of agriculture. They were fascinated by the art of war, which is why they were excellent horsemen. It should be especially noted that the Mongols did not accept weak and cowardly people into their ranks. In 1206, Genghis Khan became Great Khan, whose real name was Temujin. He managed to unite many tribes. Possessing strong military potential, Genghis Khan and his army defeated East Asia, Tangut Kingdom, Northern China, Korea and Central Asia. Thus began the formation of the Golden Horde.

This state existed for about two hundred years. It was formed on the ruins of the empire of Genghis Khan and was a powerful political entity in Desht-i-Kipchak. The Golden Horde appeared after the Khazar Khaganate died; it was the heir to the empires of nomadic tribes in the Middle Ages. The goal that the formation of the Golden Horde set for itself was to take possession of one branch (northern) of the Great Silk Road. Eastern sources say that in 1230 a large detachment consisting of 30 thousand Mongols appeared in the Caspian steppes. This was an area of ​​nomadic Polovtsians, they were called Kipchaks. The Mongol army of thousands went to the West. Along the way, the troops conquered the Volga Bulgars and Bashkirs, and after that they captured the Polovtsian lands. Genghis Khan assigned Jochi to the Polovtsian lands as an ulus (region of the empire) to his eldest son, who, like his father, died in 1227. Complete victory over these lands was won by the eldest son of Genghis Khan, whose name was Batu. He and his army completely subjugated the Ulus of Jochi and stayed in the Lower Volga in 1242-1243.

During these years, the Mongolian state was divided into four divisions. The Golden Horde was the first of these to be a state within a state. Each of the four sons of Genghis Khan had his own ulus: Kulagu (this included the territory of the Caucasus, the Persian Gulf and the territories of the Arabs); Jagatai (included the area of ​​present-day Kazakhstan and Central Asia); Ogedei (it consisted of Mongolia, Eastern Siberia, Northern China and Transbaikalia) and Jochi (the Black Sea and Volga regions). However, the main one was the ulus of Ogedei. In Mongolia there was the capital of the common Mongol empire - Karakorum. All state events took place here; the leader of the Kagan was the main man of the entire united empire. The Mongol troops were distinguished by their belligerence; they initially attacked the Ryazan and Vladimir principalities. Russian cities again turned out to be targets for conquest and enslavement. Only Novgorod survived. In the next two years, Mongol troops captured all of what was then Rus'. During the fierce hostilities, Batu Khan lost half of his army. The Russian princes were divided during the formation of the Golden Horde and therefore suffered constant defeats. Batu conquered Russian lands and imposed tribute on the local population. Alexander Nevsky was the first who managed to come to an agreement with the Horde and temporarily suspend hostilities.

In the 60s, a war broke out between the uluses, which marked the collapse of the Golden Horde, which the Russian people took advantage of. In 1379, Dmitry Donskoy refused to pay tribute and killed the Mongol commanders. In response to this, the Mongol Khan Mamai attacked Rus'. The Battle of Kulikovo began, in which Russian troops won. Their dependence on the Horde became insignificant and the Mongol troops left Rus'. The collapse of the Golden Horde was completely completed. The Tatar-Mongol yoke lasted for 240 years and ended with the victory of the Russian people, however, the formation of the Golden Horde can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Russian principalities began to unite against a common enemy, which strengthened and made the Russian state even more powerful. Historians estimate the formation of the Golden Horde as important stage for the development of Rus'.

The Golden Horde was one of the most powerful states, under whose control were vast territories. And yet, by the beginning of the 15th century, the country began to lose its power, and sooner or later, all crises of power had to end with the collapse of the state.

Scientists are still carefully studying the reasons for the rapid disintegration of the state system of the Golden Horde and the consequences of this event for Ancient Rus'. Before you compose historical essay about the process of decomposition of the Mongol state, it is necessary to talk about the reasons for the future collapse of the Golden Horde.

In fact, the crisis in the country has been observed since the middle of the 14th century. It was then that regular wars for the throne began, and numerous heirs of Khan Janibek argued over power. What reasons influenced the future destruction of the state system?

  • The absence of a strong ruler (with the exception of Tokhtamysh) capable of keeping the country from internal crises.
  • From the endXIV century, the state was decomposing, and many khans hastened to form their own independent uluses.
  • The territories subject to the Mongols also began to rebel, sensing the weakening of the Golden Horde.
  • Regular internecine wars led to the country experiencing a very serious economic crisis.

After Tokhtamysh handed over the throne to his heirs, the dynastic crisis resumed in the country. The contenders for the throne could not decide which of them was obliged to lead the state. If, however, the throne was still occupied by one of the heirs, he could not guarantee the literacy of the political and economic reforms. All this influenced the state of the state.

The process of destruction of the Golden Horde

Historians are confident that for early feudalism, the process of collapse is an inevitable reality. Such a collapse also occurred with Ancient Russia, and in the 15th century it began to clearly manifest itself in the example of the Golden Horde. The khans and their heirs have long been looking for ways to isolate and praise their own power. That is why, from the beginning of the 1400s, many territories that belonged to the Golden Horde achieved independence. What khanates appeared during this period?

  • Siberian and Uzbek Khanate (1420s).
  • Nogai Horde (1440s)
  • Kazan and Crimean Khanates (1438 and 1441, respectively).
  • Kazakh Khanate (1465).

Of course, each khanate strove for complete independence, wanting to achieve its rights and freedoms. In addition, the economic issue of dividing the tribute coming from Ancient Rus' became important.

The last full-fledged ruler of the Golden Horde is considered to be Kichi-Muhammad. After his death, the state virtually ceased to exist. For a long time The Great Horde was considered the dominant state, but it also ceased to exist in the 16th century.

Consequences of the collapse of the Golden Horde for Ancient Rus'

Of course, the princes of Ancient Rus' had long dreamed of becoming independent from the Golden Horde. When the country was going through a period of great turmoil, the Russian princes had an excellent chance to achieve independence.

During that period, Dmitry Donskoy was able to defend the rights of Russian princes on the Kulikovo field and achieve independence. In the period from 1380 to 1382, the Russian princes did not pay tribute, but with the invasion of Tokhtamysh, humiliating payments resumed.

After the death of Tokhtamysh, the Golden Horde again began to experience a crisis, and Ancient Rus' perked up. The size of the tribute began to decrease slightly, and the princes themselves did not strive to pay it as diligently as before.

The final blow for the Horde was that a prince appeared in the Russian lands, capable of uniting all the troops under his banner. Ivan III became such a prince. Immediately after gaining power, Ivan III refused to pay tribute.

And if the Golden Horde was just experiencing the crisis of early feudalism, then Ancient Rus' was already emerging from this stage of development. Gradually, individual territories united under common banners, realizing the power of their strength together, and not apart. In fact, it took Ancient Rus' exactly 100 years (1380-1480) to gain final independence. All this time, the Golden Horde was in a great fever, which led to its final weakening

Of course, Khan Akhmat tried to return the territories under his control, but in 1480 Ancient Rus' gained long-awaited independence, which became the last blow for the once powerful state.

Of course, withstand the economic and inside political crisis Not every country can do it. Golden Horde due to internal conflicts lost its former power, and soon ceased to exist altogether. However, this state had a huge influence on the course international history, and on the course of the history of Ancient Rus' in particular.

Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi, Turkic. Ulus – “Great State” ) - a medieval state in Eurasia.
IN Golden Horde 1224-1266 was in the .
IN 1266 under Khan Mengu-Timur Golden Horde gained complete independence, retaining only formal dependence on the imperial center.
At first 1320s Under Khan Uzbek, Islam became the state religion.
TO mid-15th century The Golden Horde split into several independent khanates. The central part, which nominally continued to be considered supreme and retained the name “ Great Horde“, ceased to exist at the beginning of the 16th century.

Golden Horde. XIII – XV centuries.

Name " Golden Horde” was first used in 1566 in the essay “ Kazan history“, when the unified state itself no longer existed. Until this time, in all Russian sources the word “ Horde” used without an adjective “ Golden“. WITH 19th century and the term “ Golden Horde” is firmly established in historiography and is used to designate the Jochi ulus as a whole, or its western part with its capital in Sarai.
In Russian chronicles the word “ Horde” meant army. Its use as the name of the country has become constant since the turn of the 13th-14th centuries; before that time, the term “ Tatars“. The Chinese called the Mongols “ Tatars (tar-tar)“.
The Arab historian Al-Omari, who lived in the first half of the 14th century, defined the borders of the Golden Horde as follows: “ The borders of this state from Jeyhun are Khorezm, Saganak, Sairam, Yarkand, Jend, Saray, the city of Majar, Azaka-Kaka, Akcha-Kermen, Kafa, Sudak, Saksin, Ukek, Bulgar, the region of Siberia, Iberia, Bashkyrd and Chulyman...“.

Formation of Ulus Jochi (Golden Horde)

The division of the empire between his sons, made to 1224, is considered to occur Golden Horde(Ulusa Jochi). After Western campaign (1236-1242), led by Jochi's son Batu (in Russian chronicles), the ulus expanded to the west and the Lower Volga region became its center.

IN 1251 A kurultai was held in the capital of Karakorum, where Mongke, the son of Tolui, was proclaimed great khan. , “ eldest in the family” (aka), supported Khan Mongke and received full autonomy for his ulus. Opponents of the Jochids and Toluids from the descendants of Chagatai and Ogedei were executed, and the possessions confiscated from them were divided between Mongke and other Chingizids who recognized their power.

Separation of the Golden Horde from the Mongol Empire

After his death, his son Sartak, who was at that time in Mongolia, at the court of Munke Khan, was to become the legal heir. However, on the way home, the new khan unexpectedly died. His young son, Ulagchi, was proclaimed the new khan, but he soon died.
Brother became the ruler of the ulus (1257-1266). Berke converted to Islam in his youth, but this did not lead to the Islamization of large sections of the nomadic population. The adoption of Islam allowed Berke to receive support from Central Asia and attract educated Muslims to the service. During the reign of Berke, Horde cities were built up with mosques, minarets, madrassas, and caravanserais. This primarily applies to Saray-Batu, the capital of the state, which at this time became known as Saray-Berke. Highly educated immigrants from Iran and Arab countries, which caused discontent among the Mongol and Kipchak nomadic nobility. However, this dissatisfaction has not yet been openly expressed.

During the reign of Mengu-Timur's grandson (1266-1282), the Ulus of Jochi became completely independent of the central government. In 1269, at a kurultai in the valley of the Talas River, Mengu-Timur, Borak Khan, and Haidu Khan recognized each other as independent sovereigns and entered into an alliance against the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan, in case he tried to challenge their independence.
After the death of Mengu-Timur, a political crisis began in the country associated with the name of the temnik Nogai. Nogai, one of the descendants, held the post of backlerbek under Mengu-Timur, the second most important in the state. His personal ulus was located in the west of the Golden Horde (near the Danube). Nogai set as his goal the formation of his own state, and during the reign of Tuda-Mengu (1282-1287) and Tula-Buga (1287-1291), he managed to subjugate a vast territory along the Danube, Dniester, and Uzeu (Dnieper) to his power.
With the direct support of Nogai, Tokhta (1291-1312) was placed on the Sarai throne. At first, the new ruler obeyed his patron in everything, but soon, relying on the steppe aristocracy, he opposed him. The long struggle ended in 1299 with the defeat of Nogai, and the unity of the Golden Horde was again restored.

Rise of the Golden Horde

During the reign of Khan Uzbek (1313-1341) and his son Janibek (1342-1357), the Golden Horde reached its peak. In the early 1320s, Uzbek Khan proclaimed Islam the state religion, threatening the “infidels” with physical violence. The revolts of the emirs who did not want to convert to Islam were brutally suppressed. The reign of Uzbek Khan was distinguished by brutal reprisals. Russian princes, dependent on the khans, before leaving for the capital of the Golden Horde, wrote spiritual wills and paternal instructions to their children in case of their death there. Several of them were actually killed. Uzbek Khan built the city of Saray al-Jedid ( New Palace), paid a lot of attention to the development of caravan trade. Trade routes became not only safe, but also well-maintained. The Golden Horde conducted brisk trade with countries Western Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt, India, China. After Uzbek Khan, his son Janibek Khan ascended the throne, whom Russian chronicles call “ kind “.

“The Great Jam.”

WITH 1359 By 1380 More than 25 khans changed on the Golden Horde throne, and many uluses tried to become independent. This time in Russian sources was called “ The Great Jame“.
IN 1357, even during the life of Janibek Khan, Ming-Timur, his khan, was proclaimed in the Ulus of Shiban. And the murder of Khan Berdibek (son of Janibek) in 1359 put an end to the Batuid dynasty, which caused the emergence of a variety of contenders for the Sarai throne from among the eastern branches of the Juchids. Taking advantage of the instability of the central government, a number of regions of the Golden Horde for some time, following the Ulus of Shiban, acquired their own khans.
The rights to the Horde throne of the impostor Kulpa were immediately questioned by the son-in-law and at the same time the beklyarbek of the murdered khan, Temnik Mamai. As a result, Mamai, who was the grandson of Isatai, an influential emir of the times of Uzbek Khan, created an independent ulus in the western part of the Golden Horde, right up to the right bank of the Volga. Not being Genghisid, Mamai had no rights to the title of khan, so he limited himself to the position of beklyarbek under the puppet khans from the Batuid clan.
Khans from Ulus Shiban, descendants of Ming-Timur, tried to gain a foothold in Sarai. They really failed to do this; rulers changed with kaleidoscopic speed. The fate of the khans largely depended on the favor of the merchant elite of the cities of the Volga region, which was not interested in the strong power of the khan.
Following the example of Mamai, other descendants of the emirs also showed a desire for independence. Tengiz-Buga, also the grandson of Isatay, tried to create an independent ulus on the Syr Darya. The Jochids, who rebelled against Tengiz-Buga in 1360 and killed him, continued his separatist policy, proclaiming a khan from among themselves.
Salchen, the third grandson of the same Isatay and at the same time the grandson of Khan Janibek, captured Hadji-Tarkhan. Hussein-Sufi, the son of Emir Nangudai and grandson of Uzbek Khan, created an independent ulus in Khorezm in 1361. In 1362, the Lithuanian prince Olgerd seized lands in the Dnieper basin.
The Troubles in the Golden Horde ended after Genghisid Tokhtamysh, with the support of Emir Tamerlane from Transoxiana in 1377-1380, first captured the uluses on the Syr Darya, defeating the sons of Urus Khan, and then the throne in Sarai, when Mamai came into direct conflict with the Principality of Moscow (defeat on Vozha in 1378). In 1380, Tokhtamysh defeated the remnants of troops gathered by Mamai after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo on the Kalka River.

The reign of Tokhtamysh.

During the reign of Tokhtamysh (1380-1395), the unrest ceased and the central government again began to control the entire main territory of the Golden Horde. In 1382, the khan made a campaign against Moscow and achieved the restoration of tribute payments. After strengthening his position, Tokhtamysh opposed the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, with whom he had previously maintained allied relations. As a result of a series of devastating campaigns of 1391-1396, Tamerlane defeated Tokhtamysh’s troops on the Terek, captured and destroyed Volga cities, including Sarai-Berke, plundered the cities of Crimea, etc. The Golden Horde was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover.

Collapse of the Golden Horde

Since the sixties XIV century, from the time of Great Remembrance, important political changes took place in the life of the Golden Horde. The gradual collapse of the state began. The rulers of remote parts of the ulus acquired actual independence, in particular, in 1361 the Ulus of Orda-Ejen gained independence. However, until the 1390s, the Golden Horde still remained more or less a unified state, but with the defeat in the war with Tamerlane and the ruin of economic centers, a process of disintegration began, which accelerated from the 1420s.
In the early 1420s it was formed Khanate of Siberia, in 1428 – Uzbek Khanate, in 1438 Khanate of Kazan, in 1441 Crimean Khanate, in the 1440s arose Nogai Horde, in 1465 the Kazakh Khanate.


After the death of Khan Kichi-Muhammad, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single state.
The Great Horde continued to be formally considered the main one among the Jochid states. In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, tried to achieve obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended unsuccessfully, and Rus' was finally freed from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. At the beginning of 1481, Akhmat was killed during an attack on his headquarters by Siberian and Nogai cavalry. Under his children, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Great Horde ceased to exist.

Administrative division of the Golden Horde.

According to traditional device nomadic states, Ulus Jochi after 1242 was divided into two wings: right (western) and left (eastern). Right wing was considered senior and represented Ulus. The Mongols designated the West as white, which is why Ulus Batu was called White Horde (Ak Orda ). The right wing covered the territory of western Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the North Caucasus, the Don and Dnieper steppes, and Crimea. Its center was Sarai-Batu.
Left wing The Juchi ulus was in a subordinate position in relation to the right, and occupied the lands of central Kazakhstan and the valley of the Syrdarya River. The Mongols designated the east in blue, so the left wing was called Blue Horde (Kok Horda ). The center of the left wing was Horda-Bazar. The elder brother Orda-Ejen became khan there.
Wings, in turn, were divided into uluses, which were owned by other sons of Jochi. Initially there were 14 such uluses.

Administrative-territorial reform of Uzbek Khan.

At first, the ulus division was characterized by instability: possessions could be transferred to other persons and change their boundaries. At the beginning of the 14th century, Uzbek Khan carried out a major administrative and territorial reform.
Right wing of Ulus Jochi was divided into 4 large uluses: Barn, Khorezm, Crimea And Desht-i-Kipchak led by ulus emirs appointed by the khan ( Ulusbeks). The main ulusbek was beklarbek. The next most important dignitary was vizier. The other two positions were occupied by particularly noble or distinguished dignitaries. These four uluses (regions) were divided into 70 small tumens, headed by temnikami.
The city became the capital of the Golden Horde Saray-Batu(near modern Astrakhan). In the first half of the 14th century the capital was moved to Saray-Berke(founded near modern Volgograd). Under Khan Uzbek, Saray-Berke was renamed Saray Al-Jedid.

Army of the Golden Horde.

The overwhelming majority of the Horde army was cavalry, which used traditional combat tactics in battle with mobile cavalry masses of archers. Its core were heavily armed detachments consisting of the nobility, the basis of which was the guard of the Horde ruler. In addition to the Golden Horde warriors, the khans recruited soldiers from among the conquered peoples, as well as mercenaries from the Volga region, Crimea and the North Caucasus. The main weapon of the Horde warriors was the bow. Spears were also widespread, used by the Horde during a massive spear strike that followed the first strike with arrows. The most popular bladed weapons were broadswords and sabers. Impact-crushing weapons were also common: maces, six-fingers, coins, klevtsy, flails.
Swords were almost universally replaced by sabers. Since the end of the 14th century, cannons have been in service. Horde warriors also began to use field fortifications, in particular, large easel chapar shields. In field battles they also used some military-technical means, in particular crossbows.

Population of the Golden Horde.

The Golden Horde was home to Turkic (Kipchaks, Volga Bulgars, Bashkirs, etc.), Slavic, Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Cheremis, Votyaks, etc.), North Caucasian (Yas, Alans, Cherkasy, etc.) peoples. The small Mongol elite very quickly assimilated among the local Turkic population. By the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV century. The nomadic population of the Golden Horde was called the ethnonym “ Tatars“.
The ethnogenesis of the Volga, Crimean, and Siberian Tatars took place in the Golden Horde. The Turkic population of the eastern wing of the Golden Horde formed the basis of modern Kazakhs, Karakalpaks and Nogais.

Cities and trade.

The total number of Golden Horde cities reaches 150. Large centers of mainly caravan trade were the cities of Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Uvek, Bulgar, Hadji-Tarkhan, Beljamen, Kazan, Dzhuketau, Majar, Mokhshi, Azak (Azov), Urgench, etc. .
The trading colonies of the Genoese in the Crimea (captaincy of Gothia) and at the mouth of the Don were used by the Horde for trading cloth, fabrics and linen, weapons, women's jewelry, jewelry, precious stones, spices, incense, furs, leather, honey, wax, salt, grain, forest, fish, caviar, olive oil and slaves.
Trade routes leading both to southern Europe and to Central Asia, India and China began from the Crimean trading cities. Trade routes leading to Central Asia and Iran passed along the Volga. Through the Volgodonsk portage there was a connection with the Don and through it with the Azov and Black Seas.
External and internal trade relations were ensured by the issued money of the Golden Horde: silver dirhams, copper pools and sums.

Rulers of the Golden Horde.

In the first period, the rulers of the Golden Horde recognized the primacy of the great kaana (kagan) Mongol Empire.
Khans of the Golden Horde:
Jochi, son of Genghis Khan (1224-1227)
Batu (c. 1208-c. 1255), son of Jochi (1227-c. 1255), orlok (jehangir) Yeke Mongol of Ulus (1235-1241)
Sartak, son of Batu (1255/1256)
Ulagchi, son of Batu (or Sartak) (1256-1257) under the regency of Borakchin Khatun, widow of Batu
Berke, son of Jochi (1257-1266)
Mengu-Timur, son of Tukan, grandson of Batu (1266-1269)
Khans
Mengu-Timur (1269-1282), first khan of the Golden Horde, independent of the Mongol Empire
Tuda Mengu (1282-1287)
Tula Buga (1287-1291)
Tokhta (1291-1312)
Uzbek Khan (1313-1341)
Tinibek (1341-1342)
Janibek (1342-1357)
Berdibek (1357-1359), last representative Batu clan
Kulpa (August 1359-January 1360), impostor, posed as the son of Janibek
Nauruz Khan (January-June 1360), impostor, posed as the son of Janibek
Khizr Khan (June 1360-August 1361), the first representative of the Orda-Ejen clan
Timur Khoja Khan (August-September 1361)
Ordumelik (September-October 1361), the first representative of the Tuka-Timur family
Kildibek (October 1361-September 1362), impostor, posed as the son of Janibek
Murad Khan (September 1362-autumn 1364)
Mir Pulad (autumn 1364-September 1365), first representative of the Shibana family
Aziz Sheikh (September 1365-1367)
Abdullah Khan (1367-1368)
Hasan Khan (1368-1369)
Abdullah Khan (1369-1370)
Muhammad Bulak Khan (1370-1372), under the regency of Tulunbek Khanum
Urus Khan (1372-1374)
Circassian Khan (1374-early 1375)
Muhammad Bulak Khan (beginning 1375-June 1375)
Urus Khan (June-July 1375)
Muhammad Bulak Khan (July 1375-late 1375)
Kaganbek (Aibek Khan) (late 1375-1377)
Arabshah (Kary Khan) (1377-1380)
Tokhtamysh (1380-1395)
Timur Kutlug (1395-1399)
Shadibek (1399-1407)
Pulad Khan (1407-1411)
Timur Khan (1411-1412)
Jalal ad-Din Khan (1412-1413)
Kerimberdy (1413-1414)
Kepek (1414)
Chokre (1414-1416)
Jabbar-Berdi (1416-1417)
Dervish Khan (1417-1419)
Kadyr-Berdi (1419)
Haji Muhammad (1419)
Ulu Muhammad (1419-1423)
Barak Khan (1423-1426)
Ulu Muhammad (1426-1427)
Barak Khan (1427-1428)
Ulu Muhammad (1428)
Kichi-Muhammad (1428)
Ulu Muhammad (1428-1432)
Kichi-Muhammad (1432-1459)

Beklyarbeki:
Nogai, great-grandson of Jochi, beklarbek (1256-1267, 1280-1300)
Iksar (Ilbasar), son of Tokhta, beklyarbek (1299/1300-1309/1310)
Kutlug-Timur, beklyarbek (ca. 1309/1310-1321/1322)
Alau, beklarbek Janibek
Mamai, beklyarbek (1357-1359, 1363-1364, 1367-1369, 1370-1372, 1377-1380)
Edigey, son of Mangyt Baltychak-bek, beklyarbek (1395-1419)
Mansur-biy, son of Edigei, beklyarbek (1419)
Naurus-biy, beklyarbek under Ulug-Muhammad and Kichi-Muhammad.

Historians consider the year 1243 to be the beginning of the creation of the Golden Horde. At this time, Batu returned from his campaign of conquest in Europe. At the same time, the Russian prince Yaroslav first arrived at the court of the Mongol khan to obtain a label for reign, that is, the right to rule the Russian lands. The Golden Horde is rightfully considered one of the largest powers.

Dimensions and military power The hordes in those years had no equal. Even the rulers of distant states sought friendship with the Mongolian state.

The Golden Horde stretched for thousands of kilometers, ethnically representing a mixture of the most diverse. The state included Mongols, Volga Bulgars, Mordovians, Circassians, and Polovtsians. The Golden Horde inherited its multinational character after the Mongols conquered many territories.

How the Golden Horde was formed

In the vast steppes of central Asia, tribes united under the common name “Mongols” roamed the vast steppes of central Asia for a long time. They had property inequality, they had their own aristocracy, which gained wealth during the seizure of pastures and lands of ordinary nomads.

There was a fierce and bloody struggle between individual tribes, which ended in the creation of a feudal state with a powerful military organization.

In the early 30s of the 13th century, a detachment of thousands of Mongol conquerors entered the Caspian steppes, where the Polovtsians roamed at that time. Having previously conquered the Bashkirs and Volga Bulgars, the Mongols began to seize Polovtsian lands. These vast territories were taken over by the eldest son of Genghis Khan, Khan Jochi. His son Batu (Batu, his in Rus') finally strengthened his power over this ulus. Batu made the headquarters of his state in the Lower Volga in 1243.

The political formation headed by Batu in the historical tradition later received the name “Golden Horde”. It should be noted that it was not the Mongols themselves who called it this way. They called it "Ulus Jochi". The term “Golden Horde” or simply “Horde” appeared in historiography much later, around the 16th century, when nothing remained of the once powerful Mongol state.

The choice of location for the Horde control center was made by Batu consciously. Mongol Khan appreciated the dignity of local and meadows, which were perfectly suitable for the pastures that horses and livestock needed. The Lower Volga is a place where the paths of caravans crossed, which the Mongols could easily control.

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