In the mid-13th century, one of Genghis Khan's grandsons, Kublai Khan, moved his headquarters to Beijing, founding the Yuan dynasty. The rest of the Mongol Empire was nominally subordinate to the Great Khan in Karakorum. One of Genghis Khan's sons, Chagatai (Jaghatai), received the lands of most of Central Asia, and Genghis Khan's grandson Hulagu owned the territory of Iran, part of Western and Central Asia and Transcaucasia. This usul, allocated in 1265, is called the Hulaguid state after the name of the dynasty. Another grandson of Genghis Khan from his eldest son Jochi, Batu, founded the state of the Golden Horde. History of Russia, A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgieva 2004 - from 56.
The Golden Horde is a medieval state in Eurasia, created by Turkic-Mongol tribes. Founded in the early 40s of the 13th century as a result of the conquered campaigns of the Mongols. The name of the state came from the magnificent tent that stood in its capital, sparkling in the sun. The Golden Horde: myths and reality. V L Egorov 1990 - from 5.
Initially, the Golden Horde was part of the huge Mongol Empire. The khans of the Golden Horde in the first decades of its existence were considered subordinate to the supreme Mongol khan in Karakorum in Mongolia. The Horde khans received a label in Mongolia for the right to reign in the Ulus of Jochi. But, starting in 1266, the Golden Horde khan Mengu-Timur for the first time ordered his name to be minted on coins instead of the name of the All-Mongol sovereign. From this time begins the countdown of the independent existence of the Golden Horde.
Batu Khan founded a powerful state, which some called the Golden Horde, and others the White Horde - the khan of this Horde was called the White Khan. The Mongols, often called Tatars, were a small minority in the Horde - and they soon dissolved among the Cuman Turks, adopting their language and giving them their name: the Cumans also began to be called Tatars. Following the example of Genghis Khan, Batu divided the Tatars into tens, hundreds and thousands; these military units corresponded to clans and tribes; a group of tribes united into a ten-thousandth corps - tumen, in Russian, “darkness” Magazine “History of the State” February 2010 No. 2 article “Golden Horde” from 22.
As for the now familiar name “Golden Horde,” it began to be used at a time when not a trace remained of the state founded by Khan Batu. This phrase first appeared in the “Kazan Chronicler”, written in the second half of the 16th century, in the form “Golden Horde” and “Great Golden Horde”. Its origin is connected with the khan’s headquarters, or more precisely, with the khan’s ceremonial yurt, richly decorated with gold and expensive materials. This is how a 14th century traveler describes it: “An Uzbek sits in a tent called a golden tent, decorated and outlandish. It consists of wooden rods covered with gold leaves. In the middle is a wooden throne, covered with gilded silver leaves, its legs are made of silver, and its top is strewn with precious stones.”
There is no doubt that the term “Golden Horde” was used in colloquial speech in Rus' already in the 14th century, but it never appears in the chronicles of that period. Russian chroniclers proceeded from the emotional load of the word “golden,” which was used at that time as a synonym for everything good, bright and joyful, which could not be said about the oppressor state, and even populated by “filthy ones.” That is why the name “Golden Horde” appears only after time erased all the horrors of Mongol rule. Great Soviet Encyclopedia, A M Prokhorov, Moscow, 1972 - p. 563
The Golden Horde covers a vast territory. It includes: Western Siberia, Northern Khorezm, Volga Bulgaria, North Caucasus, Crimea, Desht-i-Kipchak (Kipchak steppe from the Irtysh to the Danube). The extreme southeastern limit of the Golden Horde was Southern Kazakhstan (now the city of Taraz), and the extreme northeastern limit was the cities of Tyumen and Isker in Western Siberia. From north to south, the Horde extended from the middle reaches of the river. Kama to Derbent. This entire gigantic territory was quite homogeneous in landscape terms - it was mainly steppe. The capital of the Golden Horde was the city of Sarai, located in the lower reaches of the Volga (sarai translated into Russian means palace). The city was founded by Batu Khan in 1254. Destroyed in 1395 by Tamerlane. The settlement near the village of Selitrennoye, left over from the first capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Batu ("city of Batu"), is striking in its size. Spread over several hillocks, it stretches along the left bank of the Akhtuba for more than 15 km. It was a state consisting of semi-independent usuls, united under the rule of the khan. They were ruled by Batu's brothers and the local aristocracy. History of Russia, A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgieva 2004 - from 57
If we evaluate the total area, the Golden Horde was undoubtedly the largest state of the Middle Ages. Arab and Persian historians of the XIV-XV centuries. summed up its size in figures that amazed the imagination of contemporaries. One of them noted that the length of the state extends to 8, and the width to 6 months of travel. Another slightly reduced the size: up to 6 months of travel in length and 4 in width. The third relied on specific geographical landmarks and reported that this country extends “from the Sea of Constantinople to the Irtysh River, 800 farsakhs in length, and in width from Babelebvab (Derbent) to the city of Bolgar, that is, approximately 600 farsakhs” Golden Horde : myths and reality. V L Egorov 1990 - from 7.
The main population of the Golden Horde were Kipchaks, Bulgars and Russians.
Throughout the 13th century, the Caucasian border was one of the most turbulent, since the local peoples (Circassians, Alans, Lezgins) were not yet completely subjugated to the Mongols and offered stubborn resistance to the conquerors. The Tauride Peninsula also formed part of the Golden Horde from the beginning of its existence. It was after inclusion in the territory of this state that it received a new name - Crimea, after the name of the main city of this ulus. However, the Mongols themselves occupied in the 13th - 14th centuries. only the northern, steppe part of the peninsula. Its coast and mountainous regions at that time represented a number of small feudal estates, semi-dependent on the Mongols. The most important and famous among them were the Italian city-colonies of Kafa (Feodosia), Soldaya (Sudak), Chembalo (Balaclava). In the mountains of the southwest there was a small principality of Theodoro, the capital of which was the well-fortified city of Mangup. Great Soviet Encyclopedia, A. M. Prokhorov, Moscow, 1972 - p. 563.
Relations with the Mongols of the Italians and local feudal lords were maintained thanks to brisk trade. But this did not in the least prevent the Sarai khans from attacking their trading partners from time to time and treating them as their own tributaries. To the west of the Black Sea, the border of the state stretched along the Danube, without crossing it, to the Hungarian fortress of Turnu Severin, which blocked the exit from the Lower Danube Lowland. “The northern borders of the state in this area were limited by the spurs of the Carpathians and included the steppe spaces of the Prut-Dniester interfluve History of Russia 9-18 centuries, V I Moryakov higher education, Moscow, 2004 - from 95.
It was here that the border of the Golden Horde with the Russian principalities began. It passed approximately along the border between steppe and forest-steppe. The border between the Dniester and Dnieper stretched in the area of modern Vinnitsa and Cherkasy regions. In the Dnieper basin, the possessions of the Russian princes ended somewhere between Kiev and Kanev. From here the border line went to the area of modern Kharkov, Kursk and then went to the Ryazan borders along the left bank of the Don. To the east of the Ryazan principality, from the Moksha River to the Volga, there was a forest area inhabited by Mordovian tribes.
The Mongols had little interest in territories covered with dense forests, but despite this, the entire Mordovian population was completely under the control of the Golden Horde and constituted one of its northern uluses. This is clearly evidenced by 14th-century sources. In the Volga basin during the 13th century. the border passed north of the Sura River, and in the next century it gradually shifted to the mouth of the Sura and even south of it. The vast region of modern Chuvashia in the 13th century. was completely under Mongol rule. On the left bank of the Volga, the Golden Horde borderland stretched north of the Kama. Here were the former possessions of Volga Bulgaria, which turned into component The Golden Horde without any hint of autonomy. The Bashkirs who lived in the middle and southern Urals also formed part of the Mongol state. They owned in this area all the lands south of the Belaya River Golden Horde and its fall Greeks B. D. Yakubovsky A. Yu. 1998 - from 55.
The Golden Horde was one of the largest states of its time. At the beginning of the 14th century, she could field an army of 300 thousand. The heyday of the Golden Horde occurred during the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312 - 1342). In 1312, Islam became the state religion of the Golden Horde. Then, like other medieval states, the Horde experienced a period of fragmentation. Already in the 14th century, the Central Asian possessions of the Golden Horde separated, and in the 15th century, the Kazan (1438), Crimean (1443), Astrakhan (mid-15th century) and Siberian (late 15th century) khanates emerged. History of Russia, A. S. Orlov, V. A. Georgieva 2004 - from 57.
The Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi) is a Mongol-Tatar state that existed in Eurasia from the 13th to the 16th centuries. At its height, the Golden Horde, nominally part of the Mongol Empire, ruled over the Russian princes and exacted tribute from them (the Mongol-Tatar yoke) for several centuries.
In Russian chronicles, the Golden Horde bore different names, but most often Ulus Jochi (“Possession of Khan Jochi”), and only since 1556 the state began to be called the Golden Horde.
The beginning of the Golden Horde era
In 1224, the Mongol Khan Genghis Khan divided the Mongol Empire between his sons, his son Jochi received one of the parts, and then the formation of an independent state began. After him, his son, Batu Khan, became the head of the Jochi 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, Khan Batu 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 near 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 lands:
- Mostly modern Russia, except the 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 were not directly involved in governing Rus', collecting only tribute from the Russian princes and carrying out periodic punitive campaigns to strengthen their authority.
As a result of several centuries of 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 was thanks to the long-term power of the Horde in the future that Rus' always lagged behind the countries of Western Europe in development.
State structure and management 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 kept changing their borders, and the number of uluses (parts) was constantly changing, but 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 there was a single khan, to whom all the others were subordinate. Each ulus had its own manager, ulusbek, to whom smaller officials reported.
The Golden Horde was a semi-military state, so all administrative and military positions 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 became an Islamic state, which was also reflected in traditions. Scientists believe that the culture of the Golden Horde was not independent and throughout the entire period of the state’s existence was in a state of stagnation, using only ready-made forms introduced by other cultures, but not inventing its 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 furs, jewelry, leather, timber, grain, fish and even olive oil. Trade routes to Europe, India and China ran through the territory of the state.
The end of the era of the Golden Horde
In 1357, Khan Janibek died and turmoil began, caused by the struggle for power between the khans and high-ranking feudal lords. In a short period, 25 khans changed in the state, until Khan Mamai came to power.
During this 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 unrest subsided, and the Golden Horde began to regain 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 existed until the 16th century, and then also collapsed.
The last khan of the Golden Horde was Kichi Muhammad.
History of the Golden Horde.
Education of the Golden Horde.
Golden Horde It began as a separate state in 1224, when Batu Khan came to power, and in 1266 it finally left the Mongol Empire.
It is worth noting that the term “Golden Horde” was coined by the Russians, many years after the Khanate collapsed - in mid-16th century century. Three centuries earlier, these territories were called differently, and there was no single name for them.
Lands of the Golden Horde.
Genghis Khan, Batu’s grandfather, divided his empire equally between his sons - and in general its lands occupied almost the entire continent. Suffice it to say that in 1279 the Mongol Empire stretched from the Danube to the coast of the Sea of Japan, from the Baltic to the borders of present-day India. And these conquests took only about 50 years - and a considerable part of them belonged to Batu.
Dependence of Rus' on the Golden Horde.
In the 13th century, Rus' surrendered under the pressure of the Golden Horde.. True, it was not easy to cope with the conquered country; the princes sought independence, so from time to time the khans made new campaigns, ravaging cities and punishing the disobedient. This went on for almost 300 years - until in 1480 the Tatar-Mongol yoke was finally thrown off.
Capital of the Golden Horde.
The internal structure of the Horde was not very different from the feudal system of other countries. The empire was divided into many principalities, or uluses, ruled by minor khans, who were subordinate to one great khan.
Capital of the Golden Horde during the time of Batu it was in the city Saray-Batu, and in the 14th century it was moved to Saray-Berke.
Khans of the Golden Horde.
The most famous Khans of the Golden Horde- these are those from whom Rus' suffered the most damage and ruin, among them:
- Batu, from which the Tatar-Mongol name began
- Mamai, defeated on the Kulikovo field
- Tokhtamysh, who went on a campaign to Rus' after Mamai to punish the rebels.
- Edigei, who made a devastating raid in 1408, shortly before the yoke was finally thrown off.
Golden Horde and Rus': the fall of the Golden Horde.
Like many feudal states, the Golden Horde eventually collapsed and ceased to exist due to internal turmoil.
The process began in the middle of the 14th century, when Astrakhan and Khorezm separated from the Horde. In 1380, Rus' began to rise, having defeated Mamai on the Kulikovo Field. But the biggest mistake of the Horde was the campaign against the empire of Tamerlane, who dealt a mortal blow to the Mongols.
In the 15th century, the Golden Horde, once strong, split into the Siberian, Crimean and Kazan khanates. Over time, these territories were subject to the Horde less and less, in 1480 Rus' finally emerged from under oppression.
Thus, years of existence of the Golden Horde: 1224-1481. In 1481, Khan Akhmat was killed. This year is considered to be the end of the existence of the Golden Horde. However, it completely collapsed during the reign of his children, at the beginning of the 16th century.
The phenomenon of the Golden Horde still causes serious controversy among historians: some consider it a powerful medieval state, according to others it was part of the Russian lands, and for others it did not exist at all.
Why the Golden Horde?
In Russian sources, the term “Golden Horde” appears only in 1556 in the “Kazan History”, although among the Turkic peoples this phrase occurs much earlier.
However, historian G.V. Vernadsky claims that in Russian chronicles the term “Golden Horde” originally referred to the tent of Khan Guyuk. The Arab traveler Ibn-Battuta wrote about this, noting that the tents of the Horde khans were covered with plates of gilded silver.
But there is another version according to which the term “golden” is synonymous with the words “central” or “middle”. This is precisely the position occupied by the Golden Horde after the collapse of the Mongol state.
As for the word “horde”, in Persian sources it meant a mobile camp or headquarters; later it was used in relation to the whole state. IN Ancient Rus' An army was usually called a horde.
Borders
The Golden Horde is a fragment of the once powerful empire of Genghis Khan. By 1224, the Great Khan divided his vast possessions between his sons: one of the largest uluses, centered in the Lower Volga region, went to his eldest son, Jochi.
The borders of the Jochi ulus, later the Golden Horde, were finally formed after the Western Campaign (1236-1242), in which his son Batu (in Russian sources Batu) participated. In the east, the Golden Horde included the Aral Lake, in the west - the Crimean Peninsula, in the south it was adjacent to Iran, and in the north it abutted the Ural Mountains.
Device
Judging the Mongols solely as nomads and herders should probably become a thing of the past. The vast territories of the Golden Horde required reasonable management. After the final separation from Karakorum, the center of the Mongol Empire, the Golden Horde was divided into two wings - western and eastern, and each had its own capital - Sarai in the first, Horde-Bazaar in the second. In total, according to archaeologists, the number of cities in the Golden Horde reached 150!
After 1254, the political and economic center of the state completely moved to Sarai (located near modern Astrakhan), whose population at its peak reached 75 thousand people - by medieval standards, a fairly large city. Coin minting is being established here, pottery, jewelry, glass-blowing, as well as metal smelting and processing are developing. The city had sewerage and water supply.
Sarai was a multinational city - Mongols, Russians, Tatars, Alans, Bulgars, Byzantines and other peoples lived peacefully here. The Horde, being an Islamic state, was tolerant of other religions. In 1261, a Russian diocese appeared in Sarai. Orthodox Church, and later the Catholic bishopric.
The cities of the Golden Horde are gradually turning into large centers of caravan trade. Here you can find everything - from silk and spices, to weapons and precious stones. The state is also actively developing its trade zone: caravan routes from the Horde cities lead both to Europe and Rus', as well as to India and China.
Horde and Rus'
In Russian historiography, for a long time, the main concept characterizing the relations between Rus' and the Golden Horde was “yoke.” They painted us terrible pictures of the Mongol colonization of Russian lands, when wild hordes of nomads destroyed everyone and everything on their way, and the survivors were enslaved.
However, the term “yoke” was not in Russian chronicles. It first appears in the work of the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz in the second half of the 15th century. Moreover, the Russian princes and Mongol khans, according to researchers, preferred to negotiate rather than subject the lands to ruin.
L. N. Gumilyov, by the way, considered the relationship between Rus' and the Horde to be a beneficial military-political alliance, and N. M. Karamzin noted vital role Hordes in the rise of the Moscow principality.
It is known that Alexander Nevsky, having secured the support of the Mongols and insured his rear, was able to expel the Swedes and Germans from northwestern Rus'. And in 1269, when the crusaders were besieging the walls of Novgorod, a Mongol detachment helped the Russians repel their attack. The Horde sided with Nevsky in his conflict with the Russian nobility, and he, in turn, helped it resolve inter-dynastic disputes.
Of course, a significant part of the Russian lands was conquered by the Mongols and imposed tribute, but the scale of the devastation is probably greatly exaggerated.
Princes who wanted to cooperate received so-called “labels” from the khans, becoming, in essence, Horde governors. The burden of conscription for the lands controlled by the princes was significantly reduced. No matter how humiliating vassalage was, it still preserved the autonomy of the Russian principalities and prevented bloody wars.
The Church was completely exempted by the Horde from paying tribute. The first label was issued specifically to the clergy - Metropolitan Kirill by Khan Mengu-Temir. History has preserved the words of the khan for us: “We gave favors to the priests and monks and all the poor people, so that with a right heart they pray to God for us, and for our tribe without sorrow, they bless us, and do not curse us.” The label ensured freedom of religion and inviolability of church property.
G.V. Nosovsky and A.T. Fomenko in “New Chronology” put forward a very bold hypothesis: Rus' and the Horde are one and the same state. They easily turn Batu into Yaroslav the Wise, Tokhtamysh into Dmitry Donskoy, and transfer the capital of the Horde, Sarai, to Veliky Novgorod. However, the official history is more than categorical towards this version.
Wars
Without a doubt, the Mongols were best at fighting. True, they took for the most part not by skill, but by number. The conquered peoples - Cumans, Tatars, Nogais, Bulgars, Chinese and even Russians - helped the armies of Genghis Khan and his descendants to conquer the space from the Sea of Japan to the Danube. The Golden Horde was unable to maintain the empire within its previous limits, but one cannot deny its belligerence. The maneuverable cavalry, numbering hundreds of thousands of horsemen, forced many to capitulate.
For the time being, it was possible to maintain a fragile balance in relations between Russia and the Horde. But when the appetites of Mamai’s temnik began to play out in earnest, the contradictions between the parties resulted in the now legendary battle on the Kulikovo Field (1380). Its result was the defeat of the Mongol army and the weakening of the Horde. This event ends the period of the “Great Rebellion,” when the Golden Horde was in a fever from civil strife and dynastic squabbles.
The unrest ceased and power strengthened with the accession of Tokhtamysh to the throne. In 1382, he again marches on Moscow and resumes paying tribute. However, exhausting wars with the more combat-ready army of Tamerlane ultimately undermined the former power of the Horde and for a long time discouraged the desire to make campaigns of conquest.
In the next century, the Golden Horde gradually began to “fall apart” into pieces. So, one after another, the Siberian, Uzbek, Astrakhan, Crimean, Kazan khanates and the Nogai Horde appeared within its borders. The weakening attempts of the Golden Horde to carry out punitive actions were stopped by Ivan III. The famous “Standing on the Ugra” (1480) did not develop into a large-scale battle, but it finally broke the last Horde khan, Akhmat. From that time on, the Golden Horde formally ceased to exist.