Hordes of the Jochid Ulus
Encyclopedia
According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318), Genghis Khan
's eldest son, Jochi
, had 14 sons. When he died, they inherited their father's dominions as fiefs under the rule of their brothers, Batu Khan
, as supreme and Orda Khan
as elder.
Orda with some of his younger brothers constituted the eastern wing of the Jochid Ulus (Golden Horde) while Batu and others ruled the western part of it.
Those Hordes are known as "White", "Blue" and "Gray" (Shaybanids
) Horde in Slavid and Persian historiography.
Two main division are also known as Batu's Ulus (district) and Orda's Ulus.
in the 1550s, Batu's ulus was officially known as the "White Horde", Orda's the "Blue Horde" and Shiban
's the "Grey Horde".
The terms White and Blue Horde have been much misused causing enormous confusion due to modern sources. History books by notable authors left the name of Orda's son and successor, Qun Quran
, and others quickly followed it.
, which was being found in the allegiance on west, and which was being governed by the descendants of Orda Khan
. After the succession struggle of Batu's line in the 1360s, known as “great troubles”, the authority both parts of the Golden Horde passed to the eastern Jochids.
According to the Russian chronicles Blue Horde was located to the east of the Volga and is mentioned twice: the first time in connection with the great troubles, which was completed by the accession of Tokhtamysh
(“tsar from blue horde”), and the second - with the invasion of Timur
in 1395.
"...In the horde: the powerful khan, Timur Aksak, from the East, from Blue Horde, the land of Samarkhiyskia, and is much confusion and mutiny to voivods in the horde and in Russia by his advent. ...Neither king, son of king nor his tribe existed within its noyans, but such from the simple poor people, the common Tatars from Blue Horde, to the Iron Gate."
(r.1291-1312) in this work:
"After him, the Ulus of Jochi was divided into two parts. Those, which relate to the left wing, i.e., the limits of ulug]-taga, Sekiz-yagacha and Karatala to the limits of Tuysena, environments of Jend and Barchkenda, were affirmed after the descendants [Nogai], and they began to be called by the sultans of Ak-Horde; however, the right wing, which includes Ibir-Sibir, Russian, Libka, Ukek, Madzhar, Bulgar, Bashgird and Srai-Berke, was given to descendants [Tokhta], and they named them the sultans of Blue Horde.
However, as showed the contemporary studies, they are in all probability incorrectly understood, since in the Persian tradition blue and white colors indicate the opposite sides of light in comparison with the Turkish and the Mongolian.
this conventional is the third point of view, according to which the division into White and Blue Hordes' relates only to the eastern part of the Jochid Ulus. Accordingly, the Blue Horde is understood as appanage
of Shiban
, another son of Jochi, which located between the right wing of gold horde and the horde of Orda Khan (in the territory of modern western Kazakhstan).
effectively founded the White Horde (or Blue Horde) upon the withdrawal from Europe in 1242 and by 1245, Sarai
, the capital of the Horde had been founded on the lower Volga. At the same time, the eastern lands of the Golden Horde
were administered by Batu's older brother Orda
, and these came to be known as the left wing. Batu asserted his control over the Russia
n principalities after sacking the cities of Vladimir
in 1238 and Kiev
in 1240, forcing them to pay annual tribute and accept his nominations as princes.
Batu's ulus stretched from the Ural River
to the mouths of the Danube
and the Carpathian
. It exacted tribute from most of the Russian principalities and carried raids as far west as Poland and as far south as Iran and Bulgaria.
Starting with the conversion of Berke to Islam, the White Horde (or Blue Horde) made a traditional alliance with the Mamluks of Egypt
against their common rival, the Il-Khans
.
From the 1280s until 1299, the White Horde (or Blue Horde) was effectively under the control of two khans, the legitimate khans and Nogai Khan
, a warlord and kingmaker, who made an alliance with the Byzantine Empire
and invaded countries bordering the Blue Horde, particularly in the Balkans
. Nogai's pre-eminence was ended by the assertion of the legitimate Khan Toqta
, and the Blue Horde reached the apex of its power and prosperity during the reigns of Uzbeg Khan
(Öz Beg) and his son Jani Beg
in the middle of the 14th century, when it intervened in the affairs of the disintegrating Ilkhanate
.
The White Horde (or Blue Horde) remained strong from its foundation (around 1240) until the 1350s. Problems in the west of the horde led to the eventual losses of Wallachia, Dobruja, Moldavia and the western Ukraine and the vassal principalities west of Kiev
, losing those lands to Lithuania
after being defeated by its army in the Battle of Blue Waters
in 1362, and Poland
. The Death of Jani Beg
led to the Blue Horde entering into a prolonged civil war, with concurrent khans fighting each other and holding no real power. At the same time Mamai
turned kingmaker in the Blue Horde. In this time, Muscovy seceded from Mongol overlordship (at least until the early 15th century). It was not until the coming of Tokhtamysh
that the concurrent khans were removed. He briefly united the Blue Horde with the White Horde in 1380.
formed around 1225, after the death of Jochi
when his son, Orda-Ichen
(Орд эзэн, Lord Orda), inherited his father's appanage
by the Jaxartes. It was the eastern constituent part of the Golden Horde
(Jochid Ulus).
Because Orda and his descendants ruled the left division of the Golden Horde, they were called Princes of the left wing (also left hand). Initially it covered the western part of the territory ruled by the Jochids and included western Central Asia
and south-western Siberia
. The capital of the White Horde was originally at Lake Balkhash
, but later moved to Sygnaq, Kazakhstan
on the Syr-Darya River.
When Batu Khan
sent a large Jochid delegation to Hulegu's campaign in the Middle East
, it included a strong contingent under Kuli, a son of Orda. However, suspicious deaths of the latter and other Jochid princes (c.1259) angered the rulers of the Golden Horde. During the succession war between Kublai and Arik Boke from 1260 to 1264, the White Horde elites supported the latter. They also began to support the Ogedeid prince Kaidu
because he was supported by the khans such as Berke
and Mongke-Temur
.
Since 1280, Orda's successor, Konchi or Köchü
, had allied with the Yuan Dynasty
and the Ilkhanate
, in return, they rewarded him. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's account or H.H.Howorth's analyze, Kunchi possessed the territory of Ghazna and Bamiyan
under the suzerainty of either the Chagatai Khanate
or the Ilkhanate. Kunchi warned the Ilkhan Abagha of the upcoming invasion of Baraq (Chagatai Khan)
in 1268. However, when the Borjigin
princes, who operated on the Kublai Khan
's behalf in Central Asia
and later rebelled, fought against each other, they appealed to Kunchi whose response is not clear.
Marco Polo
describes the Horde as extremely cold area, saying:
"This king (Köchü) has neither city nor castle; he and his people live always either in the wide plains or among great mountains and valleys. They subsist on the milk and flesh of their cattle, and have no grain. The king has a vast number of people, but he carries on no war with anybody, and his people live in great tranquility. They have enormous numbers of cattle, camels, horses, oxen, sheep, and so forth."
In 1299, the Left wing Khan, Bayan
, was deposed by his cousin, Kobelek, who took assistance from Kaidu and Duwa
. By 1304, Bayan had reoccupied most of his ancestors' lands. His horde began to herd around Syr-Darya, replacing the Shaybanids
. Bayan's troops included the Russian
and Magyar soldiers.
Their khan, Chimtai, sent his brothers to take the Golden Horde throne during the Blue Horde's period of anarchy, (1359–1380). But they were all murdered before reaching any success. Members from White Horde (sometimes it is confused with the Blue Horde), Khizr, and his son or relative, Arab Shaykh, briefly took the throne of the Golden Horde, using their army.
In 1375, Urus Khan
, the eighth khan of the Left wing, became a contested khan of both the Blue Horde and the White Horde. He extruded the members from the House of Khizr. Urus died in 1377, and when his nephew Toqtamish
wrested control of the White Horde from Urus's son Timur-Malik
in 1378, he regained control of the Blue Horde as well. Thus, Toqtamish consolidated the two hordes, becoming the Khan of the Golden Horde
.
After the defeat of Toqtamish in 1395-96, Kuruichik was appointed head of the White Horde by Tamerlane. Since then families of Jochi's sons, Tuqa-Timur, Shiban
and Orda, began to merge with each other, establishing Uzbeg
and Kazakh
hordes. Among them, Kuruichik's descendant, Borog
, briefly asserted the throne of the Golden Horde in 1421.
After Baraq's murder, the Horde divided into two parts with 2 khans - Mohammed and Mustafa
. Mustafa reconquered the Horde, though, in Siberia appeared another threat of Abu'l-Khayr Khan
. In 1446 the latter gained the victory over Mustafa, ending the existence of Orda's Ulus (the left wing of the Golden Horde).
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
's eldest son, Jochi
Jochi
Jochi was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.-Early life:...
, had 14 sons. When he died, they inherited their father's dominions as fiefs under the rule of their brothers, Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
, as supreme and Orda Khan
Orda Khan
Orda Ichen was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi during the 13th century.-First Khan of the Blue Horde:...
as elder.
Orda with some of his younger brothers constituted the eastern wing of the Jochid Ulus (Golden Horde) while Batu and others ruled the western part of it.
Those Hordes are known as "White", "Blue" and "Gray" (Shaybanids
Shaybanids
The Shaybanids were a Persianized dynasty of Mongolian origin in central Asia. They were the patrilineal descendants of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Until the mid-14th century, they acknowledged the authority of the descendants of Batu Khan and Orda Khan, such as...
) Horde in Slavid and Persian historiography.
Two main division are also known as Batu's Ulus (district) and Orda's Ulus.
Subdivisions and terminology
According to the Tarikh-i Dost Sultan written by Ötemish Hajji in KhivaKhiva
Khiva is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva...
in the 1550s, Batu's ulus was officially known as the "White Horde", Orda's the "Blue Horde" and Shiban
Shiban
Shiban or Shayban was one of the Left Wing princes. He was Jöchi's fifth son and a grandson of Genghis Khan. Because he was too young when his father died in 1227, he did not receive any lands at that time....
's the "Grey Horde".
The terms White and Blue Horde have been much misused causing enormous confusion due to modern sources. History books by notable authors left the name of Orda's son and successor, Qun Quran
Qun Quran
Qun-Quran or Qun-Qiran was the khan of Orda's Ulus.According to Jami al-Tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Qun-Quran was the fourth son of Orda, the eldest son of Jochi....
, and others quickly followed it.
Eastern part
In Russian chronicles, the Blue Horde is described as the eastern part of the Golden HordeGolden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, which was being found in the allegiance on west, and which was being governed by the descendants of Orda Khan
Orda Khan
Orda Ichen was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi during the 13th century.-First Khan of the Blue Horde:...
. After the succession struggle of Batu's line in the 1360s, known as “great troubles”, the authority both parts of the Golden Horde passed to the eastern Jochids.
According to the Russian chronicles Blue Horde was located to the east of the Volga and is mentioned twice: the first time in connection with the great troubles, which was completed by the accession of Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh was the prominent khan of the White Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur...
(“tsar from blue horde”), and the second - with the invasion of Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
in 1395.
"...In the horde: the powerful khan, Timur Aksak, from the East, from Blue Horde, the land of Samarkhiyskia, and is much confusion and mutiny to voivods in the horde and in Russia by his advent. ...Neither king, son of king nor his tribe existed within its noyans, but such from the simple poor people, the common Tatars from Blue Horde, to the Iron Gate."
Western part
According to the less popular and alternative point of view, the Blue Horde, on the contrary, corresponds to the western part of the Jochid Ulus (Golden Horde). This opinion is based on the literal movement to information of Persian composition of the 15th century “Muntakhab atm-tavarikh- namu" by Muin ad-Din Natanzi (in the contemporary literature it still there is “by the anonymous author Of iskandera”). It is said after story about the administration of the Golden Horde khan ToqtaToqta
Tokhta was a khan of the Golden Horde, son of Mengu-Timur and great grandson of Batu Khan.His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian language....
(r.1291-1312) in this work:
"After him, the Ulus of Jochi was divided into two parts. Those, which relate to the left wing, i.e., the limits of ulug]-taga, Sekiz-yagacha and Karatala to the limits of Tuysena, environments of Jend and Barchkenda, were affirmed after the descendants [Nogai], and they began to be called by the sultans of Ak-Horde; however, the right wing, which includes Ibir-Sibir, Russian, Libka, Ukek, Madzhar, Bulgar, Bashgird and Srai-Berke, was given to descendants [Tokhta], and they named them the sultans of Blue Horde.
However, as showed the contemporary studies, they are in all probability incorrectly understood, since in the Persian tradition blue and white colors indicate the opposite sides of light in comparison with the Turkish and the Mongolian.
One of the parts of the left wing of the gold horde
In KazakhstanKazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
this conventional is the third point of view, according to which the division into White and Blue Hordes' relates only to the eastern part of the Jochid Ulus. Accordingly, the Blue Horde is understood as appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
of Shiban
Shiban
Shiban or Shayban was one of the Left Wing princes. He was Jöchi's fifth son and a grandson of Genghis Khan. Because he was too young when his father died in 1227, he did not receive any lands at that time....
, another son of Jochi, which located between the right wing of gold horde and the horde of Orda Khan (in the territory of modern western Kazakhstan).
Right wing
Batu KhanBatu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
effectively founded the White Horde (or Blue Horde) upon the withdrawal from Europe in 1242 and by 1245, Sarai
Sarai (city)
Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...
, the capital of the Horde had been founded on the lower Volga. At the same time, the eastern lands of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
were administered by Batu's older brother Orda
Orda Khan
Orda Ichen was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi during the 13th century.-First Khan of the Blue Horde:...
, and these came to be known as the left wing. Batu asserted his control over the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n principalities after sacking the cities of Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
in 1238 and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
in 1240, forcing them to pay annual tribute and accept his nominations as princes.
Batu's ulus stretched from the Ural River
Ural River
The Ural or Jayıq/Zhayyq , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi making it the third longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube...
to the mouths of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and the Carpathian
Carpathian
Carpathian may refer to:*Carpathian Mountains of Central and Eastern Europe*Carpathian Convention on sustainable development in that region*Carpathian Shepherd Dog, a Romanian sheep dog*Subcarpathian Voivodeship, an administrative division of Poland...
. It exacted tribute from most of the Russian principalities and carried raids as far west as Poland and as far south as Iran and Bulgaria.
Starting with the conversion of Berke to Islam, the White Horde (or Blue Horde) made a traditional alliance with the Mamluks of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
against their common rival, the Il-Khans
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
.
From the 1280s until 1299, the White Horde (or Blue Horde) was effectively under the control of two khans, the legitimate khans and Nogai Khan
Nogai Khan
Nogai , also called Isa Nogai, was a general and de facto ruler of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Baul/Teval Khan, the 7th son of Jochi...
, a warlord and kingmaker, who made an alliance with the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and invaded countries bordering the Blue Horde, particularly in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. Nogai's pre-eminence was ended by the assertion of the legitimate Khan Toqta
Toqta
Tokhta was a khan of the Golden Horde, son of Mengu-Timur and great grandson of Batu Khan.His name "Tokhtokh" means "hold/holding" in the Mongolian language....
, and the Blue Horde reached the apex of its power and prosperity during the reigns of Uzbeg Khan
Uzbeg Khan
Sultan Mohammed Öz-Beg, better known as Uzbeg or Ozbeg , was the longest-reigning khan of the Golden Horde, under whose rule the state reached its zenith...
(Öz Beg) and his son Jani Beg
Jani Beg
Jani Beg was a khan of the Golden Horde from 1342 to 1357, succeeding his father Uzbeg Khan.After putting two of his brothers to death, Jani Beg crowned himself in Saray-Jük. He is known to have actively interfered in the affairs of Russian principalities and of Lithuania...
in the middle of the 14th century, when it intervened in the affairs of the disintegrating Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
.
The White Horde (or Blue Horde) remained strong from its foundation (around 1240) until the 1350s. Problems in the west of the horde led to the eventual losses of Wallachia, Dobruja, Moldavia and the western Ukraine and the vassal principalities west of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, losing those lands to Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
after being defeated by its army in the Battle of Blue Waters
Battle of Blue Waters
The Battle of Blue Waters was a medieval battle fought at some time between 24 September and 25 December 1362 near the Syni Vody of the Southern Bug between the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Golden Horde....
in 1362, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The Death of Jani Beg
Jani Beg
Jani Beg was a khan of the Golden Horde from 1342 to 1357, succeeding his father Uzbeg Khan.After putting two of his brothers to death, Jani Beg crowned himself in Saray-Jük. He is known to have actively interfered in the affairs of Russian principalities and of Lithuania...
led to the Blue Horde entering into a prolonged civil war, with concurrent khans fighting each other and holding no real power. At the same time Mamai
Mamai
Mamai of Borjigin kin, was a powerful military commander of the Blue Horde in the 1370s which is now the Southern Ukrainian Steppes and the Crimean Peninsula....
turned kingmaker in the Blue Horde. In this time, Muscovy seceded from Mongol overlordship (at least until the early 15th century). It was not until the coming of Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh was the prominent khan of the White Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur...
that the concurrent khans were removed. He briefly united the Blue Horde with the White Horde in 1380.
Left wing
Orda's Ulus or more appropriately, the Left wing of the Jochid Ulus was one of the uluses within the Mongol EmpireMongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
formed around 1225, after the death of Jochi
Jochi
Jochi was the eldest of the Mongol chieftain Genghis Khan's four sons by his principal wife Börte. An accomplished military leader, he participated in his father's conquest of Central Asia, along with his brothers and uncles.-Early life:...
when his son, Orda-Ichen
Orda Khan
Orda Ichen was a Mongol Khan and military strategist who ruled eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi during the 13th century.-First Khan of the Blue Horde:...
(Орд эзэн, Lord Orda), inherited his father's appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
by the Jaxartes. It was the eastern constituent part of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
(Jochid Ulus).
Because Orda and his descendants ruled the left division of the Golden Horde, they were called Princes of the left wing (also left hand). Initially it covered the western part of the territory ruled by the Jochids and included western Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and south-western Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. The capital of the White Horde was originally at Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash
Lake Balkhash is one of the largest lakes in Asia and 12th largest continental lake in the world. It is located in southeastern Kazakhstan, in Central Asia, and belongs to an endorheic basin shared by Kazakhstan and China, with a small part in Kyrgyzstan. The basin drains into the lake via seven...
, but later moved to Sygnaq, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
on the Syr-Darya River.
When Batu Khan
Batu Khan
Batu Khan was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Ulus of Jochi , the sub-khanate of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. His ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde , which ruled Rus and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies...
sent a large Jochid delegation to Hulegu's campaign in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, it included a strong contingent under Kuli, a son of Orda. However, suspicious deaths of the latter and other Jochid princes (c.1259) angered the rulers of the Golden Horde. During the succession war between Kublai and Arik Boke from 1260 to 1264, the White Horde elites supported the latter. They also began to support the Ogedeid prince Kaidu
Kaidu
Kaidu was the leader of the House of Ogedei and the de facto khan of the Chagatai Khanate. He ruled part of modern-day Xinjiang and Central Asia during the 13th century, and actively opposed his uncle, Kublai Khan, who established the Yuan Dynasty in China until his death in 1301...
because he was supported by the khans such as Berke
Berke
Berke Khan was the ruler of the Golden Horde who effectively consolidated the power of the Blue Horde and White Hordes from 1257 to 1266. He succeeded his brother Batu Khan of the Blue Horde and was responsible for the first official establishment of Islam in a khanate of the Mongol Empire...
and Mongke-Temur
Mengu-Timur
Mengu-Timur or Möngke Temür , Son of Toqoqan Khan and Buka Ujin of Oirat and the grandson of Batu Khan. He was a khan of the Golden Horde in 1266-1280.His name literally means "Eternal Iron" in the Mongolian language....
.
Since 1280, Orda's successor, Konchi or Köchü
Köchü
Köchü was the Khan of the White Horde between c.1280-1302. He was the eldest son of Sartaqtay and Qujiyan of the Qongirat and a grandson of Orda Khan....
, had allied with the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
and the Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
, in return, they rewarded him. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's account or H.H.Howorth's analyze, Kunchi possessed the territory of Ghazna and Bamiyan
Bamiyan
Bamyan , also spelt Bamiyan and Bamian, at an altitude of about 9,200 feet and with a population of about 61,863, is the largest town in the region of Hazarajat in central Afghanistan and the capital of Bamyan Province. It lies approximately 240 kilometres north-west of Kabul, the national capital...
under the suzerainty of either the Chagatai Khanate
Chagatai Khanate
The Chagatai Khanate was a Turko-Mongol khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan , second son of the Great Khan Genghis Khan, and his descendents and successors...
or the Ilkhanate. Kunchi warned the Ilkhan Abagha of the upcoming invasion of Baraq (Chagatai Khan)
Baraq (Chagatai Khan)
Baraq was a khan of the Chagatai Khanate. He was the son of Yesünto'a, and a grandson of Chagatai Khan. A convert to Islam, he took the name Ghiyas-ud-din.-Background:...
in 1268. However, when the Borjigin
Borjigin
Borjigin , also known as the Altan urug , were the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors....
princes, who operated on the Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
's behalf in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and later rebelled, fought against each other, they appealed to Kunchi whose response is not clear.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
describes the Horde as extremely cold area, saying:
"This king (Köchü) has neither city nor castle; he and his people live always either in the wide plains or among great mountains and valleys. They subsist on the milk and flesh of their cattle, and have no grain. The king has a vast number of people, but he carries on no war with anybody, and his people live in great tranquility. They have enormous numbers of cattle, camels, horses, oxen, sheep, and so forth."
In 1299, the Left wing Khan, Bayan
Buyan (khan)
Bayan was one of most famous khans of White Horde. "Bayan" means "rich" and "buyan" means "good deed/act" in the Mongolian language....
, was deposed by his cousin, Kobelek, who took assistance from Kaidu and Duwa
Duwa
Duwa , also known as Du'a, was khan of the Chagatai Khanate . He was the second son of Baraq. He was the longest reigning monarch of the Chagatayid Khanate and accepted the Great Khan's supremacy...
. By 1304, Bayan had reoccupied most of his ancestors' lands. His horde began to herd around Syr-Darya, replacing the Shaybanids
Shaybanids
The Shaybanids were a Persianized dynasty of Mongolian origin in central Asia. They were the patrilineal descendants of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Until the mid-14th century, they acknowledged the authority of the descendants of Batu Khan and Orda Khan, such as...
. Bayan's troops included the Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
and Magyar soldiers.
Their khan, Chimtai, sent his brothers to take the Golden Horde throne during the Blue Horde's period of anarchy, (1359–1380). But they were all murdered before reaching any success. Members from White Horde (sometimes it is confused with the Blue Horde), Khizr, and his son or relative, Arab Shaykh, briefly took the throne of the Golden Horde, using their army.
In 1375, Urus Khan
Urus Khan
Urus Khan was the eighth Khan of the White Horde, and a disputable Khan of the Blue Horde, he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Urus himself is the direct ancestor of khans of the Kazakh Khanate.- Ancestor of Urus :...
, the eighth khan of the Left wing, became a contested khan of both the Blue Horde and the White Horde. He extruded the members from the House of Khizr. Urus died in 1377, and when his nephew Toqtamish
Tokhtamysh
Tokhtamysh was the prominent khan of the White Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur...
wrested control of the White Horde from Urus's son Timur-Malik
Timur-Malik
Timur-Malik, also spelled Temür Malik, was the tenth Khan of the White Horde and a son of Urus Khan. Early in his reign, he invaded the lands of his cousin Toqtamysh and won a string of victories. Finally, Toqtamysh trapped him near Qara-Tal and defeated him...
in 1378, he regained control of the Blue Horde as well. Thus, Toqtamish consolidated the two hordes, becoming the Khan of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
.
After the defeat of Toqtamish in 1395-96, Kuruichik was appointed head of the White Horde by Tamerlane. Since then families of Jochi's sons, Tuqa-Timur, Shiban
Shiban
Shiban or Shayban was one of the Left Wing princes. He was Jöchi's fifth son and a grandson of Genghis Khan. Because he was too young when his father died in 1227, he did not receive any lands at that time....
and Orda, began to merge with each other, establishing Uzbeg
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
and Kazakh
Kazakh Khanate
Kazakh Khanate was a Kazakh state that existed in 1456-1847, located roughly on the territory of present-day Republic of Kazakhstan.-History:...
hordes. Among them, Kuruichik's descendant, Borog
Baraq (Khan of Golden Horde)
Baraq was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1422 to 1427. His father was Koirichak, grandson of Urus Khan who was also descendant of Genghis Khan. He took support from Ulugh Beg, the Timurid khan, and in 1422 he dethroned Kepek, Olugh Mokhammad as well as Dawlat Berdi, khans of the Golden Horde. And...
, briefly asserted the throne of the Golden Horde in 1421.
After Baraq's murder, the Horde divided into two parts with 2 khans - Mohammed and Mustafa
Mustafa
Mustafa is the primary transliteration of the Arabic given name, . The name is an epithet of Muhammad that means, Chosen One. It is a very common male given name, throughout the Muslim world.-Mostafa:...
. Mustafa reconquered the Horde, though, in Siberia appeared another threat of Abu'l-Khayr Khan
Abu'l-Khayr Khan
Abu'l-Khayr Khan was the leader who united the nomadic Uzbek tribes from which the Kazakh khanate later separated in rebellion under Janybek Khan and Kerei Khan beginning in 1466....
. In 1446 the latter gained the victory over Mustafa, ending the existence of Orda's Ulus (the left wing of the Golden Horde).
Additional reading
- Boris GrekovBoris GrekovBoris Dmitrievich Grekov was a Soviet historian noted for his comprehensive studies of Kievan Rus and the Golden Horde...
and Alexander Yakubovski, "The Golden Horde and its Downfall". - George VernadskyGeorge VernadskyGeorge Vernadsky , Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский) was a Russian-American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history.- European years :...
, "The Mongols and Russia".
See also
- Mongol invasion of EuropeMongol invasion of EuropeThe resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus starting in 21 December 1237...