States formed on the former territory of the Golden Horde. What is the Golden Horde. Years of the Golden Horde

He divided all his possessions among his sons. eldest son, Jochi, got a huge expanse of land from the headwaters of the Syr Darya to the mouths of the Danube, which, however, still had to be conquered to a large extent. Jochi died before the death of his father and his lands passed into the possession of five sons: Horde, Batu, Tuka-Timur, Sheiban and Teval. The horde was at the head of the tribes that roamed between the Volga and the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, Batu received the western possessions of the Jochi ulus. The last khans of the Golden Horde (since 1380) and the khans of Astrakhan (1466 - 1554) came from the Horde clan; the Batu clan ruled the Golden Horde until 1380. The possessions of Khan Batu were called the Golden Horde, the possessions of the Khan of the Horde - the White Horde (in the Russian annals of Blue).

Golden Horde and Rus. Map

We know relatively little about the reign of the first Batu Khan. He died in 1255. He was succeeded by his son Sartak, who, however, did not rule the Horde, as he died on the way to Mongolia, where he went to receive approval for the throne. The young Ulakchi, appointed as Sartak's successor, also soon died, and then Batu's brother Berkay or Berke (1257 - 1266) came to the throne. Berkay was followed by Mengu-Timur (1266 - 1280 or 1282). Under him, the grandson of Jochi, Nogai, who dominated the Don steppes and partly captured even the Crimea, gained significant influence on the internal affairs of the khanate. He is the main sower of unrest after the death of Mengu-Timur. After civil strife and several short reigns, in 1290 Mengu-Timur's son Tokhta (1290-1312) seized power. He enters into a fight with Nogai and defeats him. In one of the battles, Nogai was killed.

Tokhta's successor was the grandson of Mengu-Timur Uzbek (1312 - 1340). The time of his reign can be considered the most brilliant in the history of the Golden Horde. . Uzbek was followed by his son Dzhanibek (1340 - 1357). Under him, the Tatars no longer send their own Baskaks to Rus': the Russian princes themselves begin to collect tribute from the population and take it to the Horde, which was much easier for the people. Being a zealous Muslim, Janibek, however, did not oppress those who professed other religions. He was killed by his own son Berdibek (1357 - 1359). Then the unrest and the change of khans begin. In the course of 20 years (1360 - 1380), 14 khans were replaced in the Golden Horde. Their names are known to us only thanks to the inscriptions on the coins. At this time, a temnik rises in the Horde (literally the head of 10,000, generally a military leader) Mamai. However, in 1380 he was defeated by Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field and was soon killed.

History of the Golden Horde

After the death of Mamai, power in the Golden Horde passed to the descendant of the eldest son of Jochi, the Horde (some news, however, call him a descendant of Tuka-Timur) Tokhtamysh(1380 - 1391). The offspring of Batu lost power, and the White Horde united with the Golden Horde. After Tokhtamysh, the darkest period begins in the history of the Golden Horde. A struggle begins between the Tokhtamysheviches and proteges of the great Central Asian conqueror Timur. The enemy of the first was the Nogai commander (temnik) Edigey. Having big influence, he constantly intervenes in civil strife, replaces the khans and finally dies in the fight against the last Tokhtamyshevich on the banks of the Syr Darya. After that, khans from other clans appear on the throne. The Horde is weakening, its clashes with Moscow are becoming less and less frequent. The last Khan of the Golden Horde was Akhmat or Sayyid-Ahmed. With the death of Akhmat, one can consider the end of the Golden Horde; his many sons, who held out on the lower reaches of the Volga, formed Khanate of Astrakhan never had political power.

The sources for the history of the Golden Horde are exclusively Russian and Arabic (mainly Egyptian) chronicles and inscriptions on coins.

The Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi) is the state of the Mongol-Tatars that existed in Eurasia from the 13th to the 16th century. During its dawn, the Golden Horde, nominally part of the Mongol Empire, ruled over the Russian princes and levied tribute from them (Mongol-Tatar yoke) for several centuries.

In the Russian chronicles, the Golden Horde had different names, but most often Ulus Jochi (“Possession of Khan Jochi”), and only from 1556 did the state begin to be called the Golden Horde.

Beginning of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1224, the Mongol Khan Genghis Khan divided the Mongol Empire between his sons, one of the parts was received by his son Jochi, then the formation of an independent state began. After him, his son Batu Khan became the head of the Juchi ulus. Until 1266, the Golden Horde was part of the Mongol Empire, as one of the khanates, and then became an independent state, having only a nominal dependence on the empire.

During his reign, Batu Khan made several military campaigns, as a result of which new territories were conquered, and the lower Volga region became the center of the Horde. The capital was the city of Sarai-Batu, located not far from modern Astrakhan.

As a result of the campaigns of Batu and his troops, the Golden Horde conquered new territories and, during its heyday, occupied the following lands:

• Most of modern Russia, except for Far East, Siberia and the North;
• Ukraine;
• Kazakhstan;
• Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Despite the existence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and the power of the Mongols over Russia, the khans of the Golden Horde did not directly manage Rus', taking only tribute from the Russian princes and making periodic punitive campaigns to strengthen their authority.

As a result of several centuries of the rule of the Golden Horde, Rus' lost its independence, the economy was in decline, the lands were devastated, and the culture forever lost some types of crafts and was also in the stage of degradation. It is thanks to the long-term power of the Horde in the future that Rus' has always lagged behind in development from the countries Western Europe.

State structure and control system of the Golden Horde

The Horde was a fairly typical Mongol state, consisting of several khanates. In the 13th century, the territories of the Horde changed their borders all the time, and the number of uluses (parts) was constantly changing, however, at the beginning of the 14th century, a territorial reform was carried out and the Golden Horde received a constant number of uluses.

Each ulus was headed by its own khan, who belonged to the ruling dynasty and was a descendant of Genghis Khan, while at the head of the state was a single khan, to whom all the rest were subordinate. Each ulus had its own manager, ulusbek, to whom smaller officials were subordinate.

The Golden Horde was a semi-military state, so all administrative and military posts were the same.

Economy and culture of the Golden Horde

Since the Golden Horde was a multinational state, the culture absorbed a lot from different peoples. In general, the basis of culture was the life and traditions of the nomadic Mongols. In addition, since 1312, the Horde has become an Islamic state, which is also reflected in the traditions. Scientists believe that the culture of the Golden Horde was not independent and throughout the entire period of the existence of the state was in a state of stagnation, using only ready-made forms introduced by other cultures, but not inventing their own.

The Horde was a military and trading state. It was trade, along with the collection of tribute and the seizure of territories, that was the basis of the economy. The Khans of the Golden Horde traded in furs, jewelry, leather, timber, grain, fish, and even olive oil. Trade routes to Europe, India and China ran through the territory of the state.

End of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1357, Khan Dzhanibek dies and unrest begins, caused by a struggle for power between the khans and high-ranking feudal lords. In a short period, 25 khans were replaced in the state, until Khan Mamai came to power.

In the same period, the Horde began to lose its political influence. In 1360, Khorezm separated, then, in 1362, Astrakhan and the lands on the Dnieper separated, and in 1380 the Mongol-Tatars were defeated by the Russians and lost their influence in Rus'.

In 1380 - 1395, the turmoil subsided, and the Golden Horde began to return the remnants of its power, but not for long. By the end of the 14th century, the state carried out a number of unsuccessful military campaigns, the power of the khan weakened, and the Horde broke up into several independent khanates, headed by the Great Horde.

In 1480, the Horde lost Rus'. At the same time, the small khanates that were part of the Horde finally separated. The Great Horde lasted until the 16th century, and then also disintegrated.

Kichi Muhammad was the last khan of the Golden Horde.

When determining the historical-geographical and ethnic origins of the Golden Horde, it is important to clarify the terminology used in historical literature. The phrase "Mongol-Tatars" arose in Russian historical science in the 19th century. Initially, the "Tatars" were one of the Mongol-speaking tribes united at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries. Temuchin (Temujin, later Genghis Khan). After a series of conquests by Genghis Khan, "Tatars" began to be called in Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Russian and Western European sources of the 13th-14th centuries. all nomadic tribes (including non-Mongolian ones), united and subjugated by him. During this period, several states arose in Eurasia, in which the Mongols formed the organizing and leading basis. They retained their self-name - the Mongols, but the surrounding peoples continued to call them Tatars. During the existence of the Golden Horde, its ethnic base - the Mongols assimilated by the Turkic-speaking Polovtsians - was referred to in Russian chronicles only as Tatars. In addition, several new Turkic-speaking peoples formed on its territory, which eventually adopted the ethnonym "Tatars" as a self-name: Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Siberian Tatars.

Mongolian tribes in the XII century. occupied the territory bounded by Altai, the Gobi Desert, the Greater Khingan Range and Lake Baikal. The Tatars lived in the area of ​​​​the Buir-nor and Dalai-Nor lakes, the Uryankhats inhabited the northeastern regions of Mongolia and, the Khungirats occupied the southeastern part of Mongolia, the Taichiuds (Taichzhiuds) were located along the Onon River, the Merkits roamed along, and the Kereites and Naimans - further to west. Between and the Yenisei in the taiga zone lived Oirats, "people of the forests."

The population of Mongolia in the XII century. It was subdivided according to the way of life into forest and steppe. The forest peoples lived in the taiga and taiga zones and were mainly engaged in hunting and fishing. Most of the tribes led a nomadic pastoral economy. The Mongols lived in yurts, collapsible or mounted on carts. A wagon with a yurt was transported by bulls; in the parking lots, such wagons were located in a ring. Horses, cows, sheep and goats were bred, and camels in smaller numbers. hunted and, to a limited extent, engaged in sowing, mainly millet.

The formation and collapse of the empire of Genghis Khan

The camps of the Temuchin family itself, related to the Taichiuds, were located between the rivers Onon and Kerulen. In the internecine struggle at the turn of the XII-XIII centuries. Temujin subjugated all the Mongol tribes and at the kurultai of 1206 he was proclaimed Genghis Khan (later this title was fixed as a name). After that, the surrounding peoples were subordinated -, and the "forest peoples" of the southern Baikal region. In 1211, the Mongols conquered the Tangut state, and then, within a few years, northern China. In 1219-1221 the state of Khorezmshah was conquered, which occupied Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Iran, and the middle Indus basin, after which Genghis Khan himself returned to. He sent his commanders Zhebe and Subetai-baatur with a large detachment to the north, commanding them to reach eleven countries and peoples, such as: Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orosut, Machjarat, Asut, Sasut, Serkesut, Keshimir, Bolar, Raral ( Lalat), cross the high-water rivers Idil and Ayakh, and also reach the city of Kivamen-kermen.

Already at the beginning of the XIII century. the association headed by Genghis Khan included non-Mongolian tribes (Uigurs, Tanguts,). The ethnic diversity of the concepts of "Mongols", "Tatars" intensified with the inclusion of the northern population, the Tangut state, Central Asia, and the North into the Mongol state. By the 20s. 13th century The Mongolian state covered the space from Manchuria to the Caspian Sea and from the middle Irtysh to the middle Indus. It was an association of multilingual peoples at various levels of socio-economic and political development. After the death of Genghis Khan (1227), the empire was divided among his descendants into uluses.

Ulus- the Mongols have a tribal association subordinate to the khan or leader, in a broad sense - all subject people, as well as the territory of nomads. With the formation of the Mongolian states, this term is increasingly used in the sense of a "state" in general or an administrative-territorial unit.

The ulus of the Great Khan, which included China, Tibet, the Baikal region and the south of Eastern Siberia, was ruled by the son of Genghis Khan Ugede (Ugedei). The capital of the ulus was in Karakorum and its ruler, initially - in fact, and later - formally, was the head of all Mongolian states. Ulus Zhagatai occupied Central Asia: the middle and upper reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, Lake Balkhash, Semirechye, Tien Shan and the Takla Makan desert. The descendants of Hulagu received Northern Iran and gradually expanded their possessions to the whole of Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Transcaucasia. The eldest son of Genghis Khan Jochi got the western outskirts of the Mongol Empire: Altai, south Western Siberia to the confluence of the Ob and Irtysh and part of Central Asia between the Caspian and the Aral, as well as Khorezm (lower reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya).

The folding of the main state territory of the Golden Horde

Under the name "ulus of Jochi" (options "ulus of Batu", "ulus of Berke", etc.) in eastern sources, the state is known, which in Russians is referred to as the "Horde" (the term "Golden Horde" appeared in the annals only in the second half of the 16th century, after the disappearance of the state). Jochi's son Batu Khan managed to expand the territory of his ulus. As a result of aggressive campaigns from the autumn of 1236 to the spring of 1241, the Polovtsian nomad camps, Volga Bulgaria, and most of the Russian principalities were conquered and devastated. After that, the Mongols invaded the territory of Hungary, where they also won a number of victories, were defeated in, and then reached the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Despite the successes, by this time Batu's troops were significantly weakened, which was the main reason for his return to the Black Sea steppes by 1243. From this moment, a new state originates.

The "core" of the Golden Horde, its territorial basis was the steppe zone of Eastern Europe - the Black Sea, Caspian and North Kazakhstan steppes up to the Siberian river Chulyman (Chulym) - known in the Middle Ages in the East as Desht-i-Kipchak. In the second half of the XIII century. the boundaries of the Horde were gradually established, which were determined both by natural geographical points and by the borders of neighboring states. In the west, the territory of the state was limited by the lower reaches of the Danube from its mouth to the southern Carpathians. From here, the border of the Horde stretched across thousands of kilometers to the northeast, passing almost everywhere along the forest-steppe belt and rarely entering the forest zone. The foothills of the Carpathians served as a border with, then in the middle reaches of the Prut, Dniester and Southern Bug, the Horde lands came into contact with the Galician principality, and in Porosie with the Kiev region. On the left bank of the Dnieper, the border from the lower reaches of the Psel and Vorskla went to Kursk, then turned sharply to the north (sources report that the Russian city of Tula and its environs were directly controlled by the Horde Baskaks) and again went south to the sources of the Don. Further, the territory of the Horde captured forest areas, reaching in the north to the line of the source of the Don - the confluence of the Tsna and Moksha - the mouth of the Sura - the Volga near the mouth of the Vetluga - the middle Vyatka -. There is no specific information about the northeastern and eastern borders of the state in the sources, however, it is known that the Southern Urals, the territory to the Irtysh and Chulaman, the foothills of Altai and Lake Balkhash were in his possession. In Central Asia, the border stretched from Balkhash to the middle reaches of the Syr Darya and further west to the south of the Mangyshlak peninsula. From the Caspian to the Black Sea, the possessions of the Horde reached the foothills of the Caucasus, and the coast served as the natural border of the state in the southwest.

Within the outlined borders, there was direct power of the Golden Horde khans in the middle of the 13th-14th centuries, however, there were also territories that were dependent on the Horde, which was expressed mainly in the payment of tribute. The dependent territories included the Russian principalities, with the exception of the northwestern ones (Turovo-Pinsky, Polotsk and their internal appanages, which in the second half of the 13th century became part of Lithuania), for some time the Bulgarian kingdom, politically fragmented by this time, and the Serbian kingdom . The southern coast, where several Genoese colonies were located, was also a territory semi-dependent on the Horde. In the XIV century. the khans managed to capture for a short time some areas southwest of the Caspian Sea - Azerbaijan and northern Iran.

The population of the Golden Horde was distinguished by great diversity. The bulk were Polovtsians (Kipchaks), who lived, as before the arrival of the Mongols, in the Black Sea and Caspian steppes. In the XIV century. the newcomer Mongols gradually disappeared into the Kipchak environment, forgetting their language and script. This process is vividly described by one Arab contemporary: “In ancient times, this state was the country of the Kipchaks, but when the Tatars took possession of it, the Kipchaks became their subjects. Then they (Tatars) mixed and intermarried with them (Kipchaks), and the earth prevailed over the natural and racial qualities of them (Tatars), and they all became like Kipchaks, as if they were of the same (with them) clan, because the Mongols settled on the land of the Kipchaks, married with them and remained to live in their land (the Kipchaks). Assimilation was facilitated by the common economic life of the Polovtsians and Mongols, nomadic cattle breeding remained the basis of their way of life even during the period of the Golden Horde. However, the khan's authorities needed cities to obtain maximum income from crafts and trade, so the conquered cities were restored rather quickly, and from the 50s. 13th century began the active construction of cities in the steppes.

The first capital of the Golden Horde was Saray, founded by Khan Batu in the early 1250s. Its remains are located on the left bank of the Akhtuba near the village of Selitrennoye, Astrakhan Region. The population, reaching 75 thousand people, were Mongols, Alans, Kipchaks, Circassians, Russians and Byzantine Greeks, who lived apart from each other. Saray al-Jedid (in translation - the New Palace) was founded upstream of the Akhtuba under Khan Uzbek (1312-1342), and later the capital of the state was moved here. Of the cities that arose on the right bank of the Volga, the most important were Ukek (Uvek) on the outskirts of modern Saratov, Beldzhamen on the Volga-Don lane, Khadzhitarkhan above modern Astrakhan. In the lower reaches of the Yaik, Saraichik arose - an important transit point for caravan trade, in the middle Kum - Madzhar (Madzhary), at the mouth of the Don - Azak, in the steppe part of the Crimean peninsula - Crimea and Kyrk-Er, on the Tura (a tributary of the Tobol) - Tyumen (Chingi - Tura). The number of cities and settlements founded by the Horde in Eastern Europe and adjacent Asian territories, known to us from historical sources and studied by archaeologists, was much greater. Only the largest of them are named here. Almost all cities were ethnically diverse. Another characteristic feature of the Golden Horde cities was the complete absence of external fortifications, at least until the 60s. 14th century

Immediately after the defeat of the lands of the Volga Bulgaria in 1236, part of the Bulgar population moved to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Mordvins also left for Rus' before the Mongols came here. During the existence of the Golden Horde in the Lower Kama region, the bulk of the population, as before, was the Bulgars. The old Bulgarian cities of Bulgar, Bilyar, Suvar, etc. have been preserved here (before the foundation of Saray, Batu used Bulgar as his residence), and also gradually rises to the north of the Kama. The process of mixing the Bulgars with the Kipchak-Mongolian elements led to the emergence of a new Turkic ethnic group - the Kazan Tatars. The forest area from the Volga to Tsna was inhabited by a settled Finno-Ugric population, mainly. To control it, the Mongols founded the city of Mokhshi on the Moksha River near the modern city of Narovchat in the Penza region.

As a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the composition and number of the population in the southern Russian steppes changed. Relatively populated and economically developed lands became depopulated. The first decades of the existence of the Horde in its northern territories in the forest-steppe zone lived the Russian population. However, over time, this zone becomes more and more empty, Russian settlements here fall into decay, and their inhabitants leave for the territory of Russian principalities and lands.

The westernmost part of the Horde from the Dnieper to the lower Danube before Mongol invasion inhabited by Polovtsy, wanderers and a small number of Slavs. From the middle of the XIII century. the surviving part of this population joined the Kipchak-Mongolian ethnos, and the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region and the Crimean peninsula were a nomadic area. There were few stationary settlements in this territory, the most significant of them was the Slavic Belgorod on the Dniester estuary, revived by the Mongols with the Turkic name Ak-Kerman. In the North Caucasus, the Horde khans waged a long struggle with local tribes who fought for their independence -, Alans,. This struggle was quite successful, so the real possessions of the Horde reached only the foothills. The largest settlement here was the ancient Derbent. A large number of cities continued to exist in the Central Asian part of the Horde: Urgench (Khorezm), Dzhend, Sygnak, Turkestan, Otrar, Sairam, etc. There were almost no settled settlements in the steppes from the lower Volga to the upper reaches of the Irtysh. Bashkirs settled in the Southern Urals - nomadic cattle breeders and hunters, and Finno-Ugric tribes settled along the Tobol and the middle Irtysh. The interaction of the local population with the newcomer Mongolian and Kipchak elements led to the emergence of the ethnic group of Siberian Tatars. There were also few cities here, except for Tyumen, Isker (Siberia) is known on the Irtysh, near modern Tobolsk.

Ethnic and economic geography. Administrative-territorial division.

The ethnic diversity of the population was reflected in economic geography Hordes. The peoples that were part of it, in most cases, retained their way of life and economic activities, therefore, nomadic cattle breeding, agriculture of settled tribes, and other industries were important in the economy of the state. The khans themselves and representatives of the Horde administration received most of their income in the form of tribute from the conquered peoples, from the labor of artisans who were forcibly relocated to new cities, and from trade. The last article was very great importance Therefore, the Mongols took care of the improvement of trade routes that passed through the territory of the state. Center state territory- Lower - the Volga route connected with Bulgaria and the Russian lands. In the place closest to the Don, the city of Beljamen arose, to ensure the safety and convenience of merchants crossing the lane. To the east, the caravan road went through the Northern Caspian Sea to Khiva. Part of this route from Saraichik to Urgench, which ran through desert waterless regions, was very well equipped: at a distance approximately corresponding to a day's march (about 30 km), wells were dug and caravanserais were built. Khadzhitarkhan was connected by land road with the city of Madzhar, from which there were routes to Derbent and Azak. The Horde communicated with Europe both by water and land routes: along the Northern Black Sea and the Danube, from the Crimean Genoese ports through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean Sea. The Dnieper route has largely lost its significance compared to the previous period.

In administrative-territorial terms, the Horde was divided into uluses, the boundaries of which were not clear and permanent. In general, this concept itself in the period under review is increasingly used in the sense of a spatial unit, although initially the “ulus” was also understood as the entire population given by the khan under the control of any person. It is known that since the 1260s. until 1300, the western part of the Horde from the lower Danube to the lower Dnieper was the ulus of Nogai's temnik. Although these territories, formally considered part of the Horde, were given to Nogai by Khan Berke, their dependence on the center was nominal. Nogai enjoyed virtually complete independence and often had a significant influence on the Sarai khans. Only after the defeat of Nogai by Khan Tokta in 1300 was the center of separatism eliminated. The northern steppe part of the Crimean peninsula was the Crimea ulus. The steppes between the Dnieper and the Volga are referred to in the sources as the Desht-i-Kipchak ulus. They were run by officials highest rank- beklyaribeks or viziers, and the space of the entire ulus was divided into smaller units, which were under the control of lower-level chiefs - ulusbeks (a similar system existed in all administrative-territorial units of the Horde). The territory to the east from the Volga to Yaik - the Sarai ulus - was the place of nomads of the Khan himself. The ulus of the son of Juchi Shiban occupied the territories of modern Northern and Western Siberia to the Irtysh and Chulym, and the ulus of Khorezm - the area southwest of the Aral Sea to the Caspian Sea. To the east of the Syr Darya was Kok-Orda (Blue Horde) with its center in Sygnak.

The listed names refer to the largest uluses of the Golden Horde known to us, although smaller ones also existed. These administrative-territorial units were distributed by khans to relatives, military leaders or officials at their own discretion and were not hereditary possessions. The cities of the Golden Horde were special administrative units controlled by officials appointed by the khan.

Disintegration of the Horde

The reduction of the territory of the Horde began at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries. The defeat of Nogai in 1300 weakened the military power of the state in the west, as a result of which the Danubian lowland was lost, captured by the Kingdom of Hungary and the emerging Wallachian state.

60s–70s 14th century - the time of internal strife and the struggle for power in the Horde itself. As a result of the rebellion of Temnik Mamai in 1362, the state actually split into two warring parts, the border between which was the Volga. The steppes between the Volga, Don and Dnieper, and the Crimea were under the rule of Mamai. The left bank of the Volga with the capital of the state, Sarai al-Dzhedid, and the surrounding areas formed a counterweight to Mamai, in which the capital aristocracy played the main role, on the whims of which the Sarai khans who changed quite often depended. The line passing along the Volga, which split the Golden Horde, existed quite steadily until 1380. Mamai managed to capture Saray al-Jedid in 1363, 1368 and 1372, but these seizures were short-lived and did not eliminate the split of the state. Internal strife weakened the military and political power of the Horde, in connection with which more and more new territories began to fall away from it.

In 1361, the ulus of Khorezm broke away, which had long been the bearer of separatist tendencies. It formed its own ruling dynasty, which did not recognize the power of Saray. The separation of Khorezm caused major damage to the Horde, not only politically, but also economically, since this region occupied a key position in the international caravan trade. The loss of this economically developed ulus noticeably weakened the positions of the Sarai khans, depriving them of an important support in the struggle against Mamai.

Territorial losses continued in the west as well. In the 60s. 14th century in the Eastern Carpathian region, the Moldavian principality was formed, which captured the Prut-Dniester interfluve, destroying the Golden Horde settlements here. After the victory of Prince Olgerd over the Mongols in the battle near the river Blue Waters(now Sinyukha, the left tributary of the Southern Bug) around 1363, Lithuania began to penetrate into Podolia and the right bank of the lower Dnieper.

The victory of the Moscow Prince Dmitry Ivanovich over Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 allowed Khan Tokhtamysh to restore the relative unity of the Horde, but two campaigns of Timur (Tamerlane) in 1391 and 1395. dealt her a devastating blow. Most of the Golden Horde cities were destroyed, in many of them life died out forever (Saray al-Jedid, Beljamen, Ukek, etc.). After that, the collapse of the state became a matter of time. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. in the Trans-Volga region, the Horde is formed, occupying the steppes from the Volga to the Irtysh, from the Caspian and Aral Seas to the Southern Urals. In 1428–1433 an independent Crimean Khanate was founded, which initially occupied the Crimean steppes and gradually captured the entire peninsula, as well as the Northern Black Sea region. By the mid 40s. 15th century the Kazan Khanate was formed and separated on the middle Volga and the lower Kama, and in the 1450s-60s. in the Ciscaucasian steppes, a khanate was formed with a center in Khadzhitarkhan (Russian sources call this city Astrakhan). In the XV century. at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh with the center in Chingi-Tur (Tyumen), the Siberian Khanate gradually formed, initially dependent on the Nogai Horde. The remnants of the Golden Horde - the Great Horde - until 1502 roamed the steppes between the upper reaches of the Seversky Donets and the Volga-Don perevoloka.

History of the Golden Horde

Title and borders

Name "Golden Horde" was first used in Rus' in 1566 in the historical and journalistic work "Kazan History", when the state itself no longer existed. Until that time, in all Russian sources the word "Horde" used without the adjective "golden". Since the 19th century, the term has been firmly entrenched in historiography and is used to refer to the Jochi ulus as a whole, or (depending on the context) its western part with its capital in Sarai.

In the actual Golden Horde and eastern (Arab-Persian) sources, the state did not have a single name. It was usually denoted by the term "ulus", with the addition of some epithet ( "Ulug ulus") or the ruler's name ( Ulus Berke), and not necessarily acting, but also reigning earlier ( "Uzbek, ruler of the Berke countries", "ambassadors of Tokhtamyshkhan, sovereign of the Uzbek land"). Along with this, the old geographical term was often used in the Arab-Persian sources Desht-i-Kipchak. Word "horde" in the same sources, it denoted the headquarters (mobile camp) of the ruler (examples of its use in the meaning of “country” begin to be found only from the 15th century). Combination "Golden Horde" in the meaning of "golden front tent" is found in the description of the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta in relation to the residence of Khan Uzbek. In Russian chronicles, the concept of "Horde" usually meant an army. Its use as the name of the country becomes constant from the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, until that time the term "Tatars" was used as the name. In Western European sources, the names “country of Komans”, “Komania” or “power of the Tatars”, “land of the Tatars”, “Tataria” were common.

The Chinese called the Mongols "Tatars" (tar-tar). Later this name penetrated into Europe and the lands conquered by the Mongols became known as "Tataria".

The Arab historian Al-Omari, who lived in the first half of the 14th century, defined the boundaries of the Horde as follows:

"The borders of this state from the side of Jeyhun are Khorezm, Saganak, Sairam, Yarkand, Dzhend, Sarai, the city of Majar, Azaka, Akcha-Kermen, Kafa, Sudak, Saksin, Ukek, Bulgar, the region of Siberia, Ibir, Bashkird and Chulyman ...

Batu, medieval chinese drawing

[ Formation of Ulus Jochi (Golden Horde)

Separation Mongol Empire Genghis Khan between his sons, produced by 1224, can be considered the emergence of the Ulus of Jochi. After Western campaign(1236-1242), headed by the son of Jochi Batu (in the Russian chronicles Batu), the ulus expanded to the west and the Lower Volga region became its center. In 1251, a kurultai took place in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum, where Mongke, the son of Tolui, was proclaimed the great khan. Batu, "senior of the family" ( aka), supported Möngke, probably hoping to gain 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 among Mongke, Batu and other Chingizids who recognized their authority.

Rise of the Golden Horde

After the death of Batu, his son Sartak, who was at that time in Mongolia, at the court of Mongke Khan, was to become the legitimate heir. However, on the way home, the new khan suddenly died. Soon the young son of Batu (or the son of Sartak) Ulagchi, proclaimed khan, also died.

Berke (1257-1266), brother of Batu, became the ruler of the ulus. Berke converted to Islam in his youth, but this was apparently a political step that did not lead to the Islamization of large sections of the nomadic population. This step allowed the ruler to gain the support of influential trading circles in urban centers. Volga Bulgaria and Central Asia, to recruit educated Muslims. During his reign, significant proportions reached urban planning, Horde cities were built up with mosques, minarets, madrasahs, caravanserais. First of all, this refers to Saray-Bat, the capital of the state, which at that time became known as Saray-Berke (there is a controversial identification of Saray-Berke and Saray al-Jedid) . Having recovered after the conquest, Bulgar became one of the most important economic and political centers of the ulus.

big minaret Cathedral Mosque of Bulgar, the construction of which was begun shortly after 1236 and completed at the end of the 13th century

Berke invited scientists, theologians, poets from Iran and Egypt, and artisans and merchants from Khorezm. Trade and diplomatic relations with the countries of the East have noticeably revived. Highly educated immigrants from Iran and Arab countries began to be appointed to responsible government posts, which caused discontent among the Mongolian and Kypchak nomadic nobility. However, this dissatisfaction has not yet been expressed openly.

During the reign of Mengu-Timur (1266-1280), the Ulus of Jochi became completely independent of the central government. In 1269, at the kurultai in the valley of the Talas River, Munke-Timur and his relatives Borak and Khaidu, the rulers Chagatai ulus, recognized each other as independent sovereigns and entered into an alliance against the great Khan Kublai in case he tried to challenge their independence.

Tamga of Mengu-Timur, minted on Golden Horde coins

After the death of Mengu-Timur, a political crisis began in the country associated with the name of Nogai. Nogai, one of the descendants of Genghis Khan, held the post of beklyarbek under Batu and Berk, 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, Uzeu (Dnieper) to his power.

With the direct support of Nogai, Tokhta (1298-1312) 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.

Fragments of the tiled decor of Genghisides' palace. Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu. Ceramics, overglaze painting, mosaic, gilding. Selitrennoye settlement. Excavations in the 1980s. GIM

During the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312-1342) and his son Janibek (1342-1357), the Golden Horde reached its peak. Uzbek declared Islam the state religion, threatening "infidels" with physical violence. The rebellions of the emirs who did not want to convert to Islam were brutally suppressed. The time of his khanate was distinguished by severe punishment. Russian princes, going to the capital of the Golden Horde, wrote spiritual testaments and paternal instructions to children, in case of their death there. Several of them, in fact, were killed. Uzbek built a city Saray al-Jedid("New Palace"), paid much attention to the development of caravan trade. Trade routes have become not only safe, but also well-maintained. The Horde conducted a brisk trade with the countries of Western Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt, India, China. After Uzbek, his son Dzhanibek, whom the Russian chronicles call "good", ascended the throne of the khanate.

"Great Jam"

Kulikovo battle. Thumbnail from "Tales of the Battle of Mamaev"

WITH From 1359 to 1380, more than 25 khans changed on the throne of the Golden Horde, and many uluses tried to become independent. This time in Russian sources was called the "Great Zamyatnya".

Even during the life of Khan Dzhanibek (not later than 1357), his Khan Ming-Timur was proclaimed in the Ulus of Shiban. And the murder in 1359 of Khan Berdibek (son of Dzhanibek) put an end to the Batuid dynasty, which caused the appearance of various pretenders to the Sarai throne from among the eastern branches of the Jochids. Taking advantage of the instability of the central government, a number of regions of the 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 beklyaribek of the murdered khan, the temnik Mamai. As a result, Mamai, who was the grandson of Isatay, an influential emir from the time of Khan Uzbek, created an independent ulus in the western part of the Horde, up to the right bank of the Volga. Not being Genghisides, Mamai did not have the right to the title of khan, therefore he limited himself to the position of beklyaribek under the puppet khans from the Batuid clan.

Khans from Ulus Shiban, descendants of Ming-Timur, tried to gain a foothold in Saray. They did not really succeed, the khans 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 a strong khan's power.

Following the example of Mamai, other descendants of the emirs also showed a desire for independence. Tengiz-Buga, also the grandson of Isatai, 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 Isatai and at the same time the grandson of Khan Dzhanibek, captured Hadji Tarkhan. Hussein-Sufi, son of Emir Nangudai and grandson of Khan Uzbek, created an independent ulus in Khorezm in 1361. In 1362, the Lithuanian prince Olgerd seized lands in the Dnieper basin.

The unrest in the Golden Horde ended after Genghisid Tokhtamysh, with the support of Emir Tamerlane from Maverannahr, in 1377-1380 first captured uluses on the Syr Darya, defeating the sons of Urus Khan, and then the throne in Sarai, when Mamai came into direct conflict with Moscow principality (defeat on the Vozh(1378)). Tokhtamysh in 1380 defeated the collected by Mamai after the defeat in Battle of Kulikovo remnants of troops on the Kalka River.

Tokhtamysh's reign

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 he made a trip to 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 in 1391-1396, Tamerlane defeated the troops of Tokhtamysh, captured and destroyed the Volga cities, including Saray-Berke, robbed the cities of Crimea, etc. The Golden Horde was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover.

The collapse of the Golden Horde

In the sixties of the XIII century, important political changes took place in the life of the former empire of Genghis Khan, which could not but affect the nature of the Horde-Russian relations. The accelerated disintegration of the empire began. The rulers of the Karakorum moved to Beijing, the uluses of the empire acquired de facto independence, independence from the great khans, and now rivalry between them intensified, sharp territorial disputes arose, and a struggle for spheres of influence began. In the 60s, the Jochi ulus was drawn into a protracted conflict with the Hulagu ulus, which owned the territory of Iran. It would seem that the Golden Horde has reached the apogee of its power. But here and within it began the inevitable process of disintegration for early feudalism. The "splitting" of the state structure began in the Horde, and immediately a conflict arose in the ruling elite.

In the early 1420s, a Siberian Khanate, in the 1440s - the Nogai Horde, then Kazan (1438) and Crimean Khanate(1441). After the death of Khan Kichi-Mohammed, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single state.

The main among the Jochid states formally continued to be considered the Great Horde. 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 Tatar-Mongol yoke. At the beginning of 1481, Akhmat was killed during an attack on his headquarters by the Siberian and Nogai cavalry. Under his children, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Great Horde ceased to exist.

State structure and administrative division

According to the traditional structure of nomadic states, after 1242 Ulus Jochi was divided into two wings: right (western) and left (eastern). The right wing, which was the Batu Ulus, was considered the eldest. The west of the Mongols was designated in white, so the Ulus of Batu was called the White Horde (Ak Horde). The right wing covered the territory of western Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the North Caucasus, the Don, Dnieper steppes, Crimea. Its center was Sarai.

The left wing of the Ulus Jochi was in a subordinate position in relation to the right, it occupied the lands of central Kazakhstan and the Syrdarya valley. The east of the Mongols was indicated in blue, so the left wing was called the Blue Horde (Kok Horde). The center of the left wing was the Horde-Bazaar. Batu's elder brother Orda-Ejen became the khan there.

The wings, in turn, were divided into uluses owned by other sons of Jochi. Initially, there were about 14 such uluses. Plano Carpini, who made a trip to the east in 1246-1247, singles out the following leaders in the Horde indicating the places of nomads: Kuremsu on the western bank of the Dnieper, Mautsi on the eastern steppes, Kartan, married to Batu’s sister, in the Don steppes, Batu himself on the Volga and two thousanders on the two banks of the Urals. Berke owned lands in the North Caucasus, but in 1254 Batu took these possessions for himself, ordering Berke to move east of the Volga.

At first, the ulus division was unstable: possessions could be transferred to other persons and change their boundaries. At the beginning of the XIV century, Khan Uzbek carried out a major administrative-territorial reform, according to which the right wing of the Juchi Ulus was divided into 4 large uluses: Saray, Khorezm, Crimea and Desht-i-Kypchak, headed by ulus emirs (ulusbeks) appointed by the khan. The main ulusbek was beklyarbek. The next important dignitary is the vizier. The other two positions were occupied by especially noble or distinguished feudal lords. These four regions were divided into 70 small possessions (tumens), headed by temniks.

Uluses were divided into smaller possessions, also called uluses. The latter were administrative-territorial units of various sizes, which depended on the rank of the owner (temnik, thousand's manager, centurion, foreman).

The city of Sarai-Batu (near modern Astrakhan) became the capital of the Golden Horde under Batu; in the first half of the 14th century, the capital was moved to Saray-Berke (founded by Khan Berke (1255-1266), near present-day Volgograd). Under Khan Uzbek, Sarai-Berke was renamed Sarai Al-Dzhedid.

Army

The overwhelming majority of the Horde army was the cavalry, which used the traditional tactics of fighting with mobile cavalry masses of archers in battle. Its core was 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 North Caucasus. The main weapon of the Horde warriors was the bow, which the Horde used with great skill. Spears were also widespread, used by the Horde during a massive spear strike that followed the first strike with arrows. Of the bladed weapons, broadswords and sabers were the most popular. Crushing weapons were also widespread: maces, shestopers, coinage, klevtsy, flails.

Among the Horde warriors, lamellar and laminar metal shells were common, from the 14th century - chain mail and ring-plate armor. The most common armor was khatangu-degel, reinforced from the inside with metal plates (kuyak). Despite this, the Horde continued to use lamellar shells. The Mongols also used brigantine-type armor. Mirrors, necklaces, bracers and greaves became widespread. Swords were almost universally replaced by sabers. From the end of the 14th century, guns appeared in service. Horde warriors also began to use field fortifications, in particular, large easel shields - chaparras. In field combat, they also used some military technical means, in particular, crossbows.

Population

In the Golden Horde lived: Mongols, Turkic (Polovtsy, Volga Bulgars, Bashkirs, Oguzes, Khorezmians, etc.), Slavic, Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Cheremis, Votyaks, etc.), North Caucasian (Alans, etc.) and other peoples. The bulk of the nomadic population were Kypchaks, who, having lost their own aristocracy and the former tribal division, assimilated-Turkicized [source unspecified 163 days] relatively small [source unspecified 163 days] Mongolian top. Over time, the common name for most of the Turkic peoples of the western wing of the Golden Horde was "tatars".

It is important that for many Turkic peoples the name "Tatars" was only an alien exo-ethnonym and these peoples retained their own self-name. The Turkic population of the eastern wing of the Golden Horde formed the basis of the modern Kazakhs, Karakalpaks and Nogays.

Trade

Ceramics of the Golden Horde in the collection State Historical Museum.

The cities of Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Uvek, Bulgar, Khadzhi-Tarkhan, Beljamen, Kazan, Dzhuketau, Madzhar, Mokhshi, Azak (Azov), Urgench and others were major centers of mainly caravan trade.

Trading colonies of the Genoese in the Crimea ( Captaincy of Gothia) and at the mouth of the Don were used by the Horde to trade in cloth, fabrics and linen, weapons, women's jewelry, jewelry, precious stones, spices, incense, furs, leather, honey, wax, salt, grain, wood, fish, caviar, olive oil.

The Golden Horde sold slaves and other booty captured by the Horde detachments during military campaigns to Genoese merchants.

From the Crimean trading cities, trade routes began, leading both to southern Europe, and to Central Asia, India and China. Trade routes leading to Central Asia and Iran followed the Volga.

Foreign and domestic trade relations were provided by the issued money of the Golden Horde: silver dirhams and copper pools.

Rulers

In the first period, the rulers recognized the supremacy of the great kaan of the Mongol Empire.

1. Jochi, son of Genghis Khan, (1224 - 1227)
2. Batu (c. 1208 - c. 1255), son of Jochi, (1227 - c. 1255), orlok (jehangir) Yeke Mongol Ulus (1235 -1241)
3. Sartak, son of Batu, (1255/1256)
4. Ulagchi, son of Batu (or Sartak), (1256 - 1257) under the regency of Borakchin-Khatun, widow of Batu
5. Berke, son of Jochi, (1257 - 1266)
6. Munke-Timur, son of Tugan, (1266 - 1269)

Khans

1. Munke-Timur, (1269-1282)
2. There Mengu Khan, (1282 -1287)
3. Tula Buga Khan, (1287 -1291)
4. Ghiyas ud-Din Tokhtogu Khan, (1291 —1312 )
5. Giyas ud-Din Muhammad Uzbek Khan, (1312 —1341 )
6. Tinibek Khan, (1341 -1342)
7. Jalal ud-Din Mahmud Janibek Khan, (1342 —1357 )
8. Berdibek, (1357 -1359)
9. Kulpa, (August 1359 - January 1360)
10. Muhammad Nauruzbek, (January-June 1360)
11. Mahmud Khizr Khan, (June 1360 - August 1361)
12. Timur Khodja Khan, (August-September 1361)
13. Ordumelik, (September-October 1361)
14. Kildibek, (October 1361 - September 1362)
15. Murad Khan, (September 1362 - autumn 1364)
16. Mir Pulad Khan, (Autumn 1364 - September 1365)
17. Aziz Sheikh, (September 1365 -1367)
18. Abdullah Khan Ulus Jochi (1367-1368)
19. Hassan Khan, (1368 -1369)
20. Abdullah Khan (1369 -1370)
21. Bulak Khan, (1370 -1372) under the regency of Tulunbek Khanum
22. Urus Khan, (1372 -1374)
23. Circassian Khan, (1374 - early 1375)
24. Bulak Khan, (beginning 1375 - June 1375)
25. Urus Khan, (June-July 1375)
26. Bulak Khan, (July 1375 - end of 1375)
27. Giyas ud-Din Kaganbek Khan(Aibek Khan), (late 1375 -1377)
28. Arabshah Muzzaffar(Kary Khan), (1377 -1380)
29. Tokhtamysh, (1380 -1395)
30. Timur Kutlug Khan, (1395 —1399 )
31. Giyas ud-Din Shadibek Khan, (1399 —1408 )
32. Pulad Khan, (1407 -1411)
33. Timur Khan, (1411 -1412)
34. Jalal ad-Din Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1412 -1413)
35. Kerim Birdi Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1413-1414)
36. Kepek, (1414)
37. Chokre, (1414 -1416)
38. Jabbar-Berdi, (1416 -1417)
39. Dervish, (1417 -1419)
40. Kadyr Birdi Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1419)
41. Hadji Mohammed, (1419)
42. Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1419 —1423 )
43. Barak Khan, (1423 -1426)
44. Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1426 —1427 )
45. Barak Khan, (1427 -1428)
46. Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1428 )
47. Kichi-Muhammed, Khan of Ulus Jochi (1428)
48. Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1428 —1432 )
49. Kichi-Mohammed, (1432 -1459)

Beklarbeki

• Kurumishi, son of Horde-Ezhen, beklyarbek (1227-1258) [source not specified 610 days]
• Burundai, beklyarbek (1258 -1261) [source not specified 610 days]
• Nogai, great-grandson of Jochi, beklarbek (?—1299/1300)
• Iksar (Ilbasar), son of Tokhta, beklarbek (1299/1300 - 1309/1310)
• Kutlug-Timur, beklyarbek (c. 1309/1310 - 1321/1322)
• Mamai, beklarbek (1357 -1359), (1363 -1364), (1367 -1369), (1370 -1372), (1377 -1380)
• Edigey, son Mangyt Baltychak-bek, beklarbek (1395 -1419)
• Mansur-biy, son of Yedigey, beklyarbek (1419)