MOGHULISTAN (XIV - early XVI centuries)
Economic situation.
Urban culture developed especially rapidly during the reign of Khan Erzen. He built mosques and madrassas in the cities of Otrar, Sauran, Djend and Barshynlykent. He turned the city of Sygnak into the main trading center between Central Asia and Eastern Dasht-i-Kipchak. There were close economic ties between the cities.
The foothills of Altai and Ulytau were used as summer pastures.
1. State formation, territory.
South-eastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as a result of the collapse of the Chagatai ulus. The founder is Emir Puladchi from the Dulat tribe. In 1348, he elevated Togluk-Timur, a descendant of Chagatai, to the throne. The goal of Puladchi is the final separation of Mogulistan from Transoxiana and the creation of an independent khanate. The leading role in the state is to know the Dulat tribe. The capital is Almalyk.
2. Ethnic composition. Dulats, Kanlys, Uysuns, Argyns, Zhalairs, Baaris, Barlases are Turkic-speaking tribes, Turkicized Mongolian tribes.
3. Public administration. Ulus control system. Ulusbeg is a title assigned to the head of the Dulats. Islam is the state religion. (forced conversion).
4 Political history. Togluk-Timur tried to establish his power in Central Asia by restoring the Chagatai ulus. In 1360-1361 made two trips to Transoxiana (victory). He elevated his son Ilyas-Khoja to the Khan's throne of Transoxiana.
After the death of Togluk-Timur, Emir Timur, who involuntarily recognized his power over himself, rose up to fight against Ilyas-Khoja. Several battles, defeat of Ilya-Khoja. June 22, 1365 Near Tashkent, the Battle of Batpakta (“mud battle”) - about 10 thousand people died on both sides. Victory of Ilyas-Khoja, flight of Emir Timur. Siege of Samarkand by the army of Ilyas-Khoja, fierce resistance of the inhabitants. An epidemic of horse plague in the army, the retreat of the Moguls.
Civil strife, weakening of the state. Campaigns of Emir Timur against Mogulistan: 1371-1372 (reached Almalyk), 1375-1377. (reached the Charyn River). Timur won the battle with the Mogul military leader Kamar ad-din. Campaigns 1380-1390 Khan Khizr-Khoja recognized the power of Emir Timur. Moghulistan regained its independence only after the death of Emir Timur in 1405. during the reign of Muhammad Khan. He intervened in the internecine struggle of the descendants of Emir Timur.
Internecine struggle between Zhunus and Yesen-Buga. With the support of the emirs of the Dulat tribe, Yesen-Buga took the khan's throne (1433-1462). The final collapse occurred under Khan Abd ar-Rashid (grandson of Zhunus). The territory of Zhetysu went to the Kazakh Khanate.
1. Saray-Batu (Old Saray)(Lower Volga, Akhtuba river, settlement near the village of Selitrennoye, Kharabalinsky district Astrakhan region, Russia). 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. The city grew very quickly. At the beginning of the 14th century, it was the capital - with continuous rows of houses, with mosques (of which 13 were cathedrals), with palaces, the walls of which sparkled with mosaic patterns, with reservoirs filled clear water, with extensive markets and warehouses. The Khan's palace towered on the highest hill above the bank of Akhtuba. According to legend, the khan's palace was decorated with gold, so the entire state began to be called the Golden Horde. And even today in the area of the village of Selitrennoye you can find tiles with bright oriental ornaments, coins of the 13th-14th centuries, fragments of ceramics, clay water pipes. The city had its own ceramics, foundries, and jewelry workshops.
2. Saray-Berke (New Saray)(now the village of Tsarev, Leninsky district, Volgograd region, Russia). The city was built by Khan Berke in 1262. Since 1282 - the capital of the Golden Horde. Destroyed in 1396 by Tamerlane. In 1402, the capital was restored, but could no longer achieve its former splendor and splendor.
3. Saraichik (Small Sarai)(now - the village of Saraychikovskoye, Makhambet district, Guryev region, Kazakhstan). The city was formed at the end of the 13th century. as a trade and economic center of the Golden Horde on the trade route from the Volga region to Central Asia (Khorezm). In 1395 it was destroyed by Tamerlane. Restored in the 30-40s of the 15th century. From the second half of the 15th century. became the capital of the Nogai Horde. Completely destroyed by the Russians in 1580, on the eve of the conquest of Siberia.
Chronological table
reign of the khans of the Golden Horde 1236-1481
The chronological table is based on the book by William Vasilyevich Pokhlebkin, a prominent scientist who died tragically in 1999, Tatars and Rus'. 360 years of relations in 1238-1598. Chapter 1.1.(M. " International relationships" 2000). The table is the first attempt (according to the author) in historical literature to give a summary, complete, clear idea of the number (number), sequence of shifts, reliable names and period of power all the supreme rulers of the Horde throughout the history of its existence.
This book contains a lot of interesting and important data. Unfortunately, it was published in only 1,500 copies. and is unlikely to be available to a wide readership. I will try to present it as fully as possible as part of the reference book.
For greater clarity of the presentation on the Internet, we had to slightly change the appearance of the table, preserving all its contents. A number of notes have been added by me [Note Shishkina S.P.]
| Years of reign | Khans | Notes |
| I. The Jochid Dynasty of the Batu (Batu) clan | ||
| 1236 - 1255 | 1. Batu ( Batu) | 2nd son of Jochi |
| 1255 several weeks | 2. Sartak | Son of Batu |
| 1255 several days | 3. Ulagji ( Ulagchi) | Son of Sartak (or son of Batu? from his fourth wife) |
| 1256 - 1266 | 4. Berke ( Berkay) | 3rd son of Jochi, brother of Batu; Under Berke Khan, Islam became the state religion of the Horde, which significantly complicated the situation of the Orthodox population of the Horde. |
| 1266 - 1282 | 5. Mengu-Timur ( Temir) | Nephew of Berke. In the period 1266-1300, the Horde was actually ruled by the temnik (military leader) Nogai, under whom the khans were only nominal rulers. Nogai (grandson of Bumal, the 7th son of Jochi) advanced in military abilities under Khan Berke and made successful campaigns in Transcaucasia and Iran. After Berke's death, his influence in the Horde quickly grew. He became the governor and de facto ruler of the Western Horde (from the Lower Danube and Dniester to the Don), which bordered Russian lands to the north. In 1273, Nogai married the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Michael Palaeologus, Euphrosyne, and thus, as it were, received “international recognition” as a sovereign sovereign, and not an “official” of the khan. Nogai controlled neighboring states - Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria, and all the southern Russian principalities - Kursk, Rylsk, Lipetsk. |
| 1282 - 1287 | 6. Tuda-Mengu ( Tudai) | Grandson of Batu |
| 1287 - 1291 | 7. Talabuga ( Telebuga) | Ruled jointly with his brother (Kichik) and two sons of Mengu-Timur (Algui and Toghrul). During this period, Temnik Nogai completely controlled the khans in Sarai. He overthrew Khan Talabuga and placed Tokhta on the throne. |
| 1291 - 1313 | 8. Tokhta ( Toktay, Toktagu) | Son of Mengu-Timur. Trying to free himself from dependence, in 1299 Tokhta started a war with Nogai and defeated his army in 1300. Tokhta took Nogai prisoner and killed him. |
| 1313 - 7.IV.1342 | 9. Uzbek | Son of Togrul, grandson of Mengu-Temir |
| 10. Tinibek ( Isanbek) | Son of an Uzbek, killed by his brother | |
| 1343 - 1357 | 11. Janibek ( Chanibek) | Son of an Uzbek, killed by his son. During the reign of Janibek, the Horde was dealt a strong blow by the plague that spread throughout its territory in 1346 (?). The damage from the loss of population and livestock was so great that for 2-3 years it was impossible to even bury the dead, because fewer were left alive than died from the pestilence. |
| 1357 - 1359 | 12. Berdibek | Son of Janibek. With the death of Berdibek, the Batu family came to an end, and a period of 20 years of unrest began in the Horde. |
| 1359 - 1361 | 15. Kulpa (Askulpa) - 1359, 6 months; 16. Nevruzbek, khan of the Western part of the Horde - 1359-1360; 17. Hiderbeck (Khidir, Khidrbek)- 1360, killed by his son; 18. Timur-Khaja (Temir-Khoja), son of Khidrbek - 1361, 1 month; 19. Ordu-Melek (Horde-Sheikh)- 1361; 20. Kildibek (Heldebeck)- 1361, killed; 21. Mir-Pulat (Temir-Bulat)- 1361, several weeks; | II. Period of Troubles (1359-1379) In the period 1357-1380, actual power in the Horde belonged to the temnik Mamai, who was married to the daughter of Khan Berdibek. After the death of Berdibek, in the context of a struggle for power between the temporary khans, Mamai continued to rule through dummy, nominal khans, maintaining a state of unrest, the “Great Messenger” and appointing his proteges not only in Sarai, but also in the regions. With this policy, Mamai actually weakened the Horde in 20 years. |
| 1361 - 1368 | 27. Murat (Murid, Murid, Amurat)- 1360-1363; 28. Bulat-Khoja - 1364; 29. Aziz, son of Timur-Hadji - 1364-1367; 30. Abdallah - 1367-1368; | II. Period of Troubles (continued) |
| 1368 - 1369 | 31. Hassan (Asan) | In the Bulgars - 1369-1376 |
| 1369 - 1374 | 32. Hadji-Cherkess | In Astrakhan, 2nd time - 1374-1375 |
| 1372 - 1376 | 33. Urus Khan, son of Chamtai | Blue Horde, 2nd time; In the Blue Horde, a temporary continuity of the khan's power is established - its own dynasty; |
| 1374 - 1379 | 34. Alibek (Aibek, Ilbek, Ali-Khoja), 2nd time - 1374-1375; 35. Karihan (Giyaseddin, Koanbek Khan), son of Alibek - 1375-1377; 36. Arab Shah (Arapsha) from the Blue Horde - 1375-1377; 36a. Arab Shah (Arapsha) to Mordovia - 1377-1378; 37. Urus Khan, son of Chamtai, 3rd time - 1377-1378; 38. Toktoga, son of Urus Khan, - 1378, 2 months; 39. Timur-Melek - 1378-1379; | II. Period of Troubles (continued) In 1378, Mamai’s troops were first defeated by the Russians on the Vozha River. Trying to take revenge, Mamai organized a campaign against Moscow in 1380, in alliance with Lithuania (Jagiello) and the Ryazan principality, but received a crushing defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, which began the countdown of the real weakening and decline of the Horde. The remnants of Mamai’s army after the Battle of Kulikovo were defeated by Khan Tokhtamysh, who restored the unity of the Horde. Mamai fled to the Crimea, to the Genoese colony of Cafu, where he was killed in 1381. |
| II b. Mamai's henchmen are the khans in the Kuban region, the Lower Don and the North. Caucasus | ||
| 1378 - 1380 | 40. Muhammad-Bulak | (from 1369 actual) |
| Apr.-Sept. 1380 | 41. Tuluk-bek (Tulunbek) |
| III. Restoring Horde Unity | ||
| 1379 - 1391 | 42. Tokhtamysh, 1st time | Tokhtamysh's campaign against Moscow (1382); Tokhtamysh's campaign against Transoxiana in alliance with the Semirechye Mongols (1387); Tamerlane's campaign against the possessions of the Golden Horde to the Volga (1391); |
| June-Aug. 1391 | 43. Bek-Bulat | |
| Sep.-Oct. 1391 | 44. Timur-Kutlu | 1st time |
| 1392 - 1395 | 45. Tokhtamysh, 2nd time | In 1395, Tamerlane's second invasion of the Golden Horde took place. Tokhtamysh's troops were defeated on the Terek. The capital of the Horde, Sarai, Astrakhan and some cities of Southern Rus' (Elets) were destroyed; |
| 1395 - 1396 | 46. Tash-Timur-oglan (khan) | |
| 47. Kayrycak (Kuyurchak), son of Urus Khan | ||
| 1396 - 1411 | 48. Berdibek II (1396) 49. Timur-Kutlu (Temir-Kutluy), 2nd time (1396-1399) 50. Shadibek (Chanibek), brother of Timur-Kutlu (1399-1406) 51. Pulat (Pulad, Bulat Khan), son of Timur-Kutlu, 1st time (1406-1407) 52. Jelal-eddin, son of Tokhtamysh, 1st time (1407) 53. Pulat, 2nd time (1407-1411) | In the period 1396-1411, actual power in the Horde belonged to the temnik Edigei, emir of the Blue Horde, in the Zayaitsky yurt. In 1376, Edigei, having quarreled with Urus Khan, fled to Tamerlane and fought in Tamerlane’s armies against Tokhtamysh. In 1391 he betrayed Tamerlane and from 1396 became the ruler of the part of the Horde between the Volga and the Yaik River (Ural), which later became known as the Nogai Horde. In 1397 he became the head of the Golden Horde army, and in 1399 on the Vorskla River he defeated the Lithuanian army of Prince Vitovt and the troops of Tokhtamysh, placed Khan Shadibek on the throne in the Horde and became the de facto ruler of the Horde (the whole). In 1406 he killed Tokhtamysh, in 1407 he overthrew his son Jelal-Eddin, in 1408 he attacked Rus' to force him to pay tribute again, burned Mozhaisk, besieged Moscow (under Vasily I), but could not take it. In 1411 he was expelled from the Horde, fled to Khorezm, in 1414 he was expelled from there, and in 1419 he was killed by one of the sons of Tokhtamysh. |
| 1411 - 1415? | 55. Jelal-eddin | 2nd time |
| 1412 - 1413 | 56. Kerim-Berdy | |
| 57. Kepek | ||
| 1414 - 1416 | 58. Chekri (Chegre, Chingiz-oglan) | Killed |
| 1416 - 1417 | 59. Jabbar-Birds (Erimberdy, Yarimferdei) | |
| 1417 - 1419 | 60. Dervish (Dariush) | Khan of the Eastern Horde |
| 1419 - 1423 | 61. Ulu-Muhammad | Khan of the entire Horde, 1st time |
| 1419 - 1420 | 62. Kadir-Berdy | Son of Tokhtamysh, Khan of the Western Horde |
Thus, over the entire history of the Horde of 245 years, it was ruled by 64 khans, who ascended the throne a total of 79 times. Of the 64 khans, 12 were purely regional, sitting in their own fiefs (yurts), 4 were mixed (they came from the regions to Sarai) and only 48 were all-Horde. This statistics explains the discrepancies among historians in calculating the number of khans. Twice the Horde was ruled by 10 khans, three times by Urus Khan and 5 times by Ulu-Muhammad (Muhammad the Great).
Average length of stay on the khan's throne for individual periods:
I. For the descendants of the Batu family, for the first 120 years of the Horde (1236-1359) - 10 years;
II. During the 20-year turmoil (1359-1379) - less than 1 year (approx. 9 months);
III. During the period of restoration of the unity of the Horde (1380-1420) - 2 years;
IV. During the period of division of the Horde into the Western and Eastern parts (1420-1455) - 4 years 4 months;
V. During the period Great Horde(1443-1481) - 13 years;
The capitals of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu (Old Sarai) and Sarai-Berke (New Sarai) are the most famous cities of the Golden Horde. The culture and art of the Golden Horde are closely connected with the culture of these ancient capitals.
Due to the orientation of the khans of the Golden Horde towards Islam and urban life of the Central Asian-Iranian type, a vibrant urban culture flourished in the steppes where the capitals of the Golden Horde were founded. This was the culture of watering bowls and mosaic panels on mosques, the culture of Arab astrologers, Persian poems and Islamic spiritual learning, interpreters of the Koran and algebraic mathematicians, exquisitely fine ornamentation and calligraphy. At the same time, the high culture of the craft city of the Golden Horde was combined with phenomena that were an echo of a deeply archaic religious art nomads.
The cities of the Golden Horde in their heyday were a mixture of Central Asian mosques and minarets, tiles and glazed pottery with wooden frames and yurts of nomads. The mixed culture of the Golden Horde city was manifested in house-building and architecture. Thus, along with buildings of the Islamic type, row houses had many features borrowed from Central Asia: often the wall was built from panel wooden structures, placed on a brick plinth. In appearance square house there were a number of features from the nomads' yurt. Often, in front of massive brick houses, an entrance was built in the form of a pavement, bounded by L-shaped walls, which can be found in the architecture of the 13th century. in Mongolia, etc. Heating systems such as kanas were borrowed from the regions of Central Asia, and the type of underground hypocausts - from Volga Bulgaria.
In the cities of the Golden Horde lived Polovtsians, Bulgarians, Slavs, people from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Crimea, etc. It was with their hands that this urban culture was created. In the cities of the Golden Horde there was literary language, so-called "Volga Turks", on which several extant literary works. The delicacy of feelings, the delicate aroma of flowers, the beauty of women were sung in this language, and at the same time in this literature there were many democratic motives, expressions of popular thoughts and wisdom.
The cities of the Golden Horde were filled with imported artistic products, and although they are not a product of the Golden Horde’s own decorative arts, but show a high standard of living, aesthetic demands, and reflect to some extent the rather eclectic taste of its population.
Initially, the main political center of the Golden Horde, its capital was Sarai-Batu or Old Sarai (the village of Selitrennoye, Astrakhan region) - a city built by Khan Batu (1243-1255) in 1254 (according to V. Rubruk). As a result of the internecine struggle of the khans and Timur’s campaign (1395) the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu, was badly damaged. The city of Saray-Batu was finally destroyed in 1480.
In Sarai-Batu there were many palaces, mosques, craft quarters, etc. Near the monumental buildings, archaeologists also found traces of yurts, which were probably used in the summer. In the vicinity of the capital there was a large necropolis. 
One of the palaces in the city of Saray-Batu consisted of 36 rooms with different purposes. The 1 m thick walls were laid without a foundation. The walls of the front rooms were painted with floral patterns, the floors were laid out with red square and hexagonal bricks, held together with white alabaster mortar. The central hall of the palace in Sarai-Batu had an area of 200 square meters. m, its walls were decorated with mosaic and majolica panels with gilding. A bathhouse with underground heating was attached to the palace; there was also a bathroom, in the middle of which there was a square bathtub made of brick. Water came into it through a water supply system made of clay pipes, and there was also a combined bathroom.
The city of Saray-Berke (New Saray, Saray Al-Jedid) on the river. Akhtube (Tsarevskoe settlement near Volgograd) is the capital of the Golden Horde, built around 1260 by Khan Berke (1255 - 1266), Batu’s brother. The beginning of the Islamization of the Golden Horde is associated with the name of Khan Berke. Under Khan Berke, the Golden Horde became virtually independent of the Mongol Empire. The heyday of the city of Saray-Berke occurred in the first half of the 14th century. After 1361, Saray-Berke was repeatedly captured by various contenders for the khan's throne. In 1395 the city was destroyed by Timur.
As a result of archaeological excavations, multi-room palaces of the nobility were discovered in New Sarai, built of baked brick, with wide walls, with a floor raised on a powerful substructure, with a long facade, decorated at the corners in the Central Asian manner with two decorative towers-minarets and with a deep portal in the form of a niche, with polychrome painting on the plastered walls.
The khans of the Golden Horde brought scientists, astronomers, theologians, and poets from Central Asia, Iran, Egypt and Iraq. In New Sarai lived the famous doctor from Khorezm Noman ad-Din, about whom it was said that “he studied logic, dialectics, medicine” and was one of the most educated people of his time. We can judge the development of astronomy and geodesy in New Sarai from the finds of fragments of an astrolabe and quadrants.
What Saray-Batu and Saray-Berke had in common was the development small (maximum 6 by 6 m) one-room residential buildings, square in plan, with walls made of wood or mud brick. In the middle of the house along three walls a warm couch (kan) was placed in the shape of the letter “P” with a firebox at one end and a vertical chimney at the other. In the capitals of the Golden Horde there was a water supply system, a system of city swimming pools and fountains to supply residents with water, sewer drains were laid from wooden pipes, there were public toilets(separately for women and men).
A.A. Sharibzhanova.
Reprinting the article as a whole or in parts is prohibited. A hyperactive link to this article must include information about the author of the article, the exact title of the article, and the name of the site.
Original taken from terrao in The Hidden Heritage of the Golden Horde
IN modern Russia much is not “Russian” at all, but only a legacy of the Golden Horde, but no one knows this except narrow specialists. And sometimes even specialists cannot recognize this heritage.
I’ll give just one striking example: rowing double headed eagle. In Russia it is generally accepted that it was introduced by Ivan III during his marriage to Sophia Paleologus. This is not so, since the double-headed eagle was previously the coat of arms of the Golden Horde; it was minted on Horde coins centuries before Ivan III. Many examples of such coins are given in the book by V.P., published in 2000. Lebedev “Corpus of coins of the Crimea as part of the Golden Horde (mid-XIII - early XV centuries).”
Let me also remind you that many Russian historians, out of a desire to belittle the Tatars, deliberately call the Horde a “Khanate” and its rulers “Khans,” although in fact the Golden Horde was a kingdom and was ruled by kings (later the Horde split into several kingdoms). In 1273, long before the wedding of Moscow Prince Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus, the ruler of the Horde Nogai married the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Michael Paleologus - Euphrosyne Paleologus. And he accepted Orthodoxy (as well as the double-headed Byzantine eagle as the official coat of arms of the Horde).
The Golden Horde also had another coat of arms, which “migrated” to the famous hat of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, to the Bukhara orders, to the coat of arms of the Russian region and the coats of arms of its cities, and even to the coat of arms and flag of Tajikistan, where - surprisingly - they are not aware of it !
We will begin our investigation with a short note in the journal “Science and Life”...
FROM ASTRAKHAN TO BUKHARA
In No. 6 for 1987, the journal “Science and Life” published an article “Coats of arms of the cities of the Astrakhan and Saratov provinces.” It said:
“For the first time, the Astrakhan emblem - “wolf in a crown” appears on state seal Ivan IV in the 70s. XVI century ...But at the same time another version of the Astrakhan coat of arms is known: a crown and a saber under it. Historians also attribute the imprint of the voivodeship seal with such a design to XVI century. This version of the emblem was further developed and was used in drawing up the coat of arms of the Astrakhan province.
There is an interesting hypothesis about the origin of the symbolism of the Astrakhan coat of arms by historian A.V. Artsikhovsky. Based on a detailed comparison of a number of images of the Astrakhan coat of arms on monuments of the 16th-17th centuries with the emblem on the so-called “Bukhara Star” - an order used by the Bukhara emirs, the scientist concludes that they all have one prototype - some local Turkic tamga, various comprehended by Russian Astrakhan governors and Bukhara emirs. Moreover, the former see a crown and a saber here, and the latter see an ornamental motif.
Artsikhovsky identifies the upper element of the design on the star with a crown, and the lower element with a saber. The question arises: what does the Bukhara emirs have to do with it? The fact is that the descendants of the Astrakhan khans founded a dynasty in Bukhara, which ruled from 1597 to 1737, and could well have preserved the ancient emblem of their ancestors.”
So, here is the coat of arms of Astrakhan (Fig. 3) and the coat of arms of the Astrakhan region (Fig. 4). The trefoil is striking as the main element of the crown, and even more this trefoil is emphasized on the coats of arms of the 16th-17th centuries, which clearly resembles the emblem on the “Bukhara Star” (Fig. 5, Bukhara emblem at the bottom right).
The history of the creation of the orders of the Bukhara Emirate begins in 1868, when a peace treaty was signed, according to which Bukhara became a Russian protectorate. During the reign of the Bukhara Emir Muzaffar, the first awards appeared in the Bukhara Emirate from the Uzbek Mangyt clan. In 1881, he established the Order of Noble Bukhara, which had only a star. In literature, the Order of Noble Bukhara is most often referred to as a “star” (sometimes as the “Order of the Rising Star of Bukhara”). There was an inscription on the order Arabic script(“Reward of the capital of Noble Bukhara”) and the date of the beginning of the emir’s reign. The new award was awarded to Emperor Alexander II of Russia and later Nicholas II.
In the center of this order (Fig. 6 and 7) there is some kind of sacred symbol (tamga), which, apparently, the Bukhara emirs actually brought from Astrakhan. In principle, history confirms the hypothesis of historian A.V. Artsikhovsky.
1230 - Appearance of the Mongol troops of Batu Khan (Batu) in the Caspian steppes.
1242-1243 - Founding of the Horde on the Lower Volga by Batu Khan.
XIV century - The collapse of the Golden Horde and the formation of the Astrakhan kingdom with its center in the city of Astrakhan (Ashtrakhan, Adzhitarkhan).
1553 - Astrakhan Tsar Abdurakhman concluded a treaty of friendship with the Moscow Prince Ivan IV (the Terrible).
1554 - Astrakhan king Yamgurchi concluded an alliance with Turkey and Crimea.
1554 - Perfidious occupation of the Astrakhan kingdom by the troops of Ivan the Terrible.
1554 - Prince Derbysh-Ali was placed on the throne.
1555 - Attempts by Derbysh-Ali to free himself from vassal dependence on Moscow.
1556 - Capture of the Astrakhan-Perevoloka border area by a detachment of Ataman L. Filimonov.
1556 - Forced annexation of the Astrakhan kingdom to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
1556 - Flight of the last Astrakhan kings to Bukhara.
1557 - The title of the Astrakhan Tsar began to be used by the Moscow Prince Ivan the Terrible.
And another significant detail: Astrakhan became a regional center (the capital of the Astrakhan kingdom, and then the capital of the province under Russia) only during the period of feudal fragmentation in the Horde. And before that, the main city of this region, and the entire territory of present-day Russia and other lands, was another local locality- city of TSAREV. It was founded around 1260 as the capital of the Golden Horde and was called Sarai-Berke. IN Russian Empire The coat of arms was approved on June 20, 1846. In the scarlet field there is a golden wall with seven teeth and above it a golden cross placed on the moon (Fig. 8).
It is quite logical to assume that the symbol distorted on the current coat of arms of the Astrakhan region and preserved on the Bukhara order is the tanga of Saraya-Berke (possibly Batu), which later passed to the Astrakhan kingdom. That is, the symbol means the Golden Horde, and not specifically the land of Astrakhan. That's why it's valuable.
In any case, this symbol, similar to a trefoil, also appears on the crown crowning the serpent on the Coat of Arms of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Horde (Fig. 9) - “A black serpent under a crown of gold, Kazan, red wings, a white field.”
He is also on the crown of the Moscow autocrats. Historian O.I. Zakutnov wrote in the essay “History of Astrakhan Heraldry”:
“The crown of the “Astrakhan Kingdom”, or the hat of the first outfit of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, was made in 1627, instead of the heavy crown of Monomakh, and was called “Astrakhan”. It consists of three triangular concave gold boards, decorated with enamel and precious stones, brought together at the top under the crown. At the bottom, the hat is decorated with a crown of 6 cross-shaped through cufflinks, also decorated with stones. The cap has a crown consisting of three arches, the spaces between which are filled. Above this crown is another one, similar to it, but smaller. The hat is crowned with an emerald.”
Let me clarify that the “crown of Monomakh” is also the Horde “crown”. In 1339, for betraying Rus', the Horde king Uzbek gave it to his Moscow slave Ivan Kalita (by the way, he began to introduce Islam into the Horde; before that the Horde was Orthodox). This skullcap has nothing to do with Monomakh.
As for the “Astrakhan Cap” of Mikhail Fedorovich (Fig. 10), which is also depicted on the current coat of arms of the Astrakhan region, it was so revered by the Moscow rulers and was considered the main one, because it was actually the CROWN OF THE KINGS OF THE GOLDEN HORDE. It came to the Muscovites through the Astrakhan kingdom from Batu himself and his capital of the Golden Horde, Saray-Berke (now the city of Tsarev). What art historians call on it “three triangular concave gold boards, decorated with enamel and precious stones” is the image of the tamga of the Golden Horde, which was later the coat of arms of the Astrakhan kingdom, and then became the coat of arms of the Horde kings who fled from there and became Bukhara emirs, and then it came to the Bukhara Order. This is the same symbol.
What it means is no longer clear. Artsikhovsky was never able to answer this question. Tamga is a tribal sign among Turkic and some other peoples. As a rule, a descendant of a certain clan borrowed the tamga of his ancestor and added to it additional element or modified it. The most common tamga is among nomadic Turkic tribes. In particular, among the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Nogais, etc. The use of tamga has been known since ancient times, even among the Scythians, Huns, and Sarmatians. Tamgas are also known among many peoples of the northwestern Caucasus, the Abkhazians. Tamga was used to mark horses, camels and other livestock that were the common property of the clan, or objects (weapons, ceramics, carpets, etc.) made by members of the clan. The image of tamga can be found on coins. Here, for example, are the ancient Turkic tamgas (Fig. 11).
In Russia - of course - they prefer to “hush up” this topic. Why Mikhail Fedorovich considered the “Astrakhan Cap” the most prestigious headdress for himself as the Tsar of the Horde-Russia - not a single historian asks. Because it turns out to be absurd: they write in books about some kind of “Horde yoke,” and the rulers of Moscow themselves wear purely Horde “crowns”: then several of their generations wore the skullcap of Tsar Uzbek (out of shame, called the “Monomakh’s cap”), then later it was replaced by “Astrakhan hat” - as something “more significant”. Like, regal. For from the kings of the Horde. So, all of Russia (which is the New United Horde) is from these kings of the Horde - and not at all from Kievan Rus.
TAMGA OF THE GOLDEN HORDE - COAT OF ARMS OF TAJIKISTAN
It is interesting that the Astrakhan kings who fled to Bukhara left this region with their sacred symbol of the capital of the Golden Horde, Saraya-Berke - but there, as in Russia, the meaning of the symbol has long been forgotten.
A certain Tajik Shukufa raised the topic on a local website: “The country needs new symbols!” She writes:
“This may not seem entirely patriotic to some, but our state symbols don’t touch me, they don’t grab me. What is the meaning of symbols such as flag, coat of arms, anthem, monuments, etc.? It seems to me that the main purpose of these symbols is to unite the people of each country, strengthen patriotism and motivate people to do something for the benefit of their state and nation. Another important purpose of symbols is to represent and symbolize the country and nation abroad as best as possible.
It seems to me that the symbols we have today do not cope with the above role. These symbols are very weak, somewhat trivial and unoriginal. In my opinion, they do not have any clearly expressed semantic content. These are just pictures that do not convince anyone of anything and in most cases mean nothing.”
It’s funny to read this: after all, the only “problem” is that the person does not know the CONTENT of the symbol. In the same way, many Belarusians in our country also did not know (and others still do not know) the content of the “Pahonia” coat of arms; they consider it either “fascist” or Lietuvis, when in fact it is purely Orthodox and purely Belarusian.
Shukufa writes: “This is what our flag looks like (Fig. 12). This flag is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, there are many different versions regarding the meaning of its colors and the number of stars. The presence of such a huge number of interpretations has led to the fact that many of us still cannot understand what exactly the flag, crown and stars mean. A symbol that should be understood by everyone at once and in the same way instead causes confusion. I once attended a meeting of a committee of the Majlisi Namoyandagon, where deputies (!) argued about the meaning of the colors of the flag. What can we say about us mere mortals?”
I don’t know what the stars mean, but the “crown” is the tamga of the Bukhara Order, also known as the tamga of the Golden Horde.
Shukufa: “We have the same problems with our coat of arms (Fig. 13). There are too many elements in it that carry many different meanings. It's like a salad that has tried to cram too many different ingredients into it. This salad is nice to look at, but not particularly nice to eat. It is interesting that in 1992-1993 our republic had such a coat of arms (Fig. 14). It looked much more presentable than the current version."
Both coats of arms have the same symbol - the same tamga, the meaning of which the resident of Tajikistan does not know. In this regard, I agree with her, because the situation is generally paradoxical. Here's what Wikipedia says:
“According to researcher V. Saprykov [Saprykov V. New coat of arms and flag of Tajikistan // “Science and Life” No. 10, 1993. pp. 49-51], “three protrusions in the crown depicted on the coat of arms indicate the regions of the republic - Khatlon , Zarafshan, Badakhshan. Each of them individually is not yet a country. Only united into a single whole do they represent Tajikistan. The crown has another meaning: the word “taj” in translation means “crown”. In a broader sense, the concept of “Tajiks” can be interpreted as “Khalki Tojdor”, that is, a crown-bearing people. In other words, the crown plays the role of a unifying principle, without which there is and cannot be a specific state.”
As they say, insanity grew stronger...
“Wikipedia”: “Researcher M. Revnivtsev [Revnivtsev M.V. On the issue of the hidden symbolism of the flag and coats of arms of the Republic of Tajikistan. Flags of Tajikistan. VEXILLOGRAPHIA], in his own interpretation of the state symbols of Tajikistan, turns to the religion of Zoroastrianism, which dates back to the first Tajik state of the Samanids in the 9th-10th centuries and which, he claims, was popular among the Tajik intelligentsia both during the years of Soviet power and to the present day.
According to M. Revnivtsev, the “crown” depicted in the center of the state flag and in the upper part of the coat of arms of Tajikistan includes three stylized images of lamps - three sacred unquenchable fires, which are the object of religious worship in Zoroastrian temples. The central element of the “crown” symbolizes the world Mount Hara, located in the center of the World, and the curved golden arc at the bottom of the emblem represents the “bridge of retribution” Chinvat, on which on the Day of Judgment Zarathushtra will separate the souls of the righteous from the sinners.”
This is generally a triumph of insanity. Wikipedia only offers these two versions. Wikipedia does not know that the “crown” is actually a symbol from the “Order of the Rising Star of Bukhara” in 1881. And, naturally, he does not know about the hypothesis of historian A.V. Artsikhovsky, how this tamga of the Astrakhan kingdom became a symbol of the Bukhara emirs.
At the same time, the versions of Saprykov and Revnivtsev seem simply ridiculous.
SICKLE UNDER THE CROSS
So, let's sum up some intermediate results. Let’s leave the Tajiks aside (let them decide for themselves; perhaps the origin of the country’s coat of arms from the Golden Horde does not seem acceptable to them) and return to Artsikhovsky’s research. In 1946, he based his assumption on the gradual evolution of the coat of arms of Astrakhan that the “eastern curved saber” was originally a lunar crescent. An educated guess is considered a hypothesis. But I believe that this hypothesis has already become a theory, since it is confirmed by many other facts.
Let's look again at the coat of arms of the capital of the Golden Horde - the city of Tsarev, also known as Sarai-Berke (Fig. 8). The upper part of the coat of arms - according to Artsikhovsky - is a distorted tamga (crown) with a crescent moon under it. Moreover, in the image of the sign closest to the source (Fig. 5 below right) there is a crossbar under the upper part of the trefoil. And in this case, doesn’t the cross with a sickle depicted in the lower part of Tsarev’s coat of arms seem like a “tautology”?
And here I will try to propose my hypothesis. What is a cross with a sickle anyway? This is the same stylized trefoil of this tamga with the moon under it!
How can I draw this symbol in a simplified way without drawing three petals (the side petals have branches to the sides, the central crossbar has branches, they stand on a semicircular base, with a sickle underneath)? A simplified version is this: three petals are drawn with dashes, with an arc at the base. But this is the second symbol on the double coat of arms of Tsarev, the capital of the Golden Horde. It turns out: the lower symbol is identical to the upper one.
Unfortunately, today no one knows why and how a cross with a sickle became the coat of arms of the former capital of the Golden Horde in 1846. This is still a “blank spot” in history. But besides the connection with the tamga-shamrock, there are other facts that complement the picture.
A cross with a sickle at the bottom and a sun in the middle was a common religious symbol in the days before the split of Christianity, which resulted in the separation of adherents of Islam. This split was really consolidated only in the 11th century, but in Asia there was a special Nestorian faith that deified power. She is half Christian, half Muslim. This faith was professed by the Genghisids, including Batu’s son Sartak, who was related by blood to Alexander Nevsky. Then, obviously, Moscow adopted Horde Orthodoxy (later, precisely for this reason, Moscow was an autocephalous church for 140 years - which is a record for Christianity, it was not recognized and was never recognized until its fall by Byzantium, which recognized only the Russian Orthodox Church Kyiv, Polotsk, Tver, Pskov, Novgorod).
When the initially Orthodox king of the Horde, Uzbek (sources did not preserve his Orthodox name from birth), introduced Islam into the Horde at the beginning of the 14th century due to political intrigues, dozens of representatives of the Chingizids fled to Muscovy with their numerous entourage, who did not want to refuse from Orthodox Nestorianism. Then Moscow became half populated by these “high migrants,” which gave them a special status in the Horde.
These Chingizid migrants and their Tatars, who fled from Saray-Berke to Moscow, had to pray somewhere. So churches are being built for them in the Moscow Kremlin and in the surrounding area, where a cross with a crescent rises - either a stylized trefoil of the Sarai-Berke tamga, or a symbol of the Nestorian faith, uniting Christianity and Islam. What we still see in the Moscow Kremlin (Fig. 15, 16, 17, 18).
At the same time, in the autocephalous religion of Muscovy (not recognized as a Christian community by Byzantium for 140 years!), until the second half of the 16th century, they did not understand the differences between Christianity and Islam; they equally revered the Bible (not translated into Russian) and the Koran. Historians - based on current concepts - are surprised to note that during the reign of the Horde over Moscow and then the dominance of Moscow over the Horde - there was not a SINGLE RELIGIOUS CONFLICT, not even a dispute, between them. That is, FAITH WAS ONE.
It turns out that we are united under the sign of a cross on a sickle, under the sign of the tamga of the capital of the Golden Horde, Saray-Berke, aka Tsarev of the Arkhangelsk region.
HISTORICAL PARALLELS-PARADOXES
What is surprising about this whole story is this.
Around 1260, in most of the territory of the current CIS, only two great states that were then forming remained to exist. This is the kingdom of the Golden Horde with its capital in Tsarev - then Sarai-Berke. And the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - with its capital in Novogrudok. Both capitals were announced around the same time. Then, for many centuries, these two geopolitical monsters of the era - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Horde - fought with each other, because they were neighbors - there were no other countries between them.
But how similar are the historical and ideological myths of Russia and Belarus! Not mirror, but rather anti-mirror. In Russia they refuse to recognize Tsarev (Saray-Berke) as the capital of the country at that time. They say that Moscow has always been the capital of Horde-Russia. Even during the period of the “Horde yoke”.
Similarly, in Belarus, ideologists want to “forget” that the first capital of the “hostile Muscovy-Horde” of Lithuania was Novogrudok. Where can this fact be taken from our history? Apologize on the topic of “integration” for this to Sarai-Berke, the capital of Russia at that time? Like, forgive me for not having become Horde-Russia yet.
The history of our great-grandfathers is not “to blame” for the fact that it does not correspond to some current fashionable and completely erroneous views on how “it was there,” drawn only from the current realities of the day. “How we would like to see our history today” is one thing. But what the story actually was is completely different.
And it will inevitably emerge, just as in the well-known proverb an awl always comes out of the bag...
Author: Vadim DERUZHINSKY “Analytical newspaper “Secret Research”, No. 7, 2013
History of the Golden Horde
| Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi, Ulug Ulus) |
||||
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ulus Jochi ca. 1300 |
||||
| Capital | Saray-Batu
Saray-Berke |
|||
| Largest cities | Saray-Batu, Kazan, Astrakhan, Uvek, etc. | |||
| Languages) | Golden Horde Turks | |||
| Religion | Tengrism, Orthodoxy (for part of the population), from 1312 Islam | |||
| Square | OK. 6 million km² | |||
| Population | Mongols, Turks, Slavs, Finno-Ugrians and other peoples | |||
Title and boundaries
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 this time, in all Russian sources the word "Horde" used without the adjective "golden". Since the 19th century, the term has been firmly established 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 Golden Horde proper and eastern (Arab-Persian) sources, the state did not have a single name. It was usually designated by the term “ulus”, with the addition of some epithet ( "Ulug Ulus") or the name of the ruler ( "Ulus Berke"), and not necessarily the current one, but also the one who reigned earlier ( "Uzbek, ruler of the Berke countries", “ambassadors of Tokhtamyshkhan, sovereign of the land of Uzbekistan”). Along with this, the old geographical term was often used in 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 in the 15th century). Combination "Golden Horde" meaning “golden ceremonial tent” is found in the description of the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta in relation to the residence of the Uzbek Khan. In Russian chronicles, the concept of “Horde” usually meant an army. Its use as the name of the country has become constant since the turn of the 13th-14th centuries; before that time, the term “Tatars” was used as the name. In Western European sources, the names “country of Komans”, “Comania” 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 began to be called “Tataria”.
The Arab historian Al-Omari, who lived in the first half of the 14th century, defined the borders of the Horde as follows:
“The borders of this state from Jeyhun are Khorezm, Saganak, Sairam, Yarkand, Jend, Saray, the city of Majar, Azaka, Akcha-Kermen, Kafa, Sudak, Saksin, Ukek, Bulgar, the region of Siberia, Iberia, Bashkyrd and Chulyman...
Batu, medieval Chinese drawing
[ Formation of Ulus Jochi (Golden Horde)
Separation Mongol Empire Genghis Khan between his sons, carried out by 1224, can be considered the emergence of the Ulus of Jochi. After Western campaign(1236-1242), led by Jochi's son Batu (in Russian chronicles, Batu), the ulus expanded to the west and the Lower Volga region became its center. In 1251, a kurultai was held in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum, where Mongke, the son of Tolui, was proclaimed great khan. Batu, "eldest 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 between Mongke, Batu and other Chingizids who recognized their power.
Rise of the Golden Horde
After Batu's death, his son Sartak, who was at that time in Mongolia, at the court of Munke Khan, was to become the legal heir. However, on the way home, the new khan unexpectedly died. Soon, the young son of Batu (or son of Sartak), Ulagchi, who was proclaimed khan, also died.
Berke (1257-1266), Batu’s brother, became the ruler of the ulus. Berke converted to Islam in his youth, but this was, apparently, a political step that did not entail 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 attract educated Muslims to the service. During his reign it reached significant proportions. urban planning, Horde cities were built up with mosques, minarets, madrassas, and caravanserais. First of all, this applies to Saray-Batu, the capital of the state, which at this 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.
Great minaret Bulgar Cathedral Mosque, whose construction began shortly after 1236 and was 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 ties with the countries of the East have noticeably revived. Highly educated immigrants from Iran and Arab countries, which caused discontent among the Mongol and Kipchak nomadic nobility. However, this dissatisfaction has not yet been openly expressed.
During the reign of Mengu-Timur (1266-1280), the Ulus of Jochi became completely independent of the central government. In 1269, at a kurultai in the valley of the Talas River, Munke-Timur and his relatives Borak and Khaidu, rulers Chagatai ulus, recognized each other as independent sovereigns and formed an alliance against the Great Khan Kublai Khan 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, the second most important in the state, under Batu and Berke. His personal ulus was located in the west of the Golden Horde (near the Danube). Nogai set as his goal the formation of his own state, and during the reign of Tuda-Mengu (1282-1287) and Tula-Buga (1287-1291), he managed to subjugate a vast territory along the Danube, Dniester, and Uzeu (Dnieper) to his power.
With the direct support of Nogai, Tokhta (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 tiled decoration of the palace of Genghisid. Golden Horde, Saray-Batu. Ceramics, overglaze painting, mosaic, gilding. Selitrennoye settlement. Excavations of the 1980s. State Historical Museum
During the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312–1342) and his son Janibek (1342–1357), the Golden Horde reached its peak. The Uzbek proclaimed Islam the state religion, threatening the “infidels” with physical violence. The revolts of the emirs who did not want to convert to Islam were brutally suppressed. The time of his khanate was characterized by strict reprisals. Russian princes, going to the capital of the Golden Horde, wrote spiritual wills and paternal instructions to their children in case of their death there. Several of them were actually killed. Uzbek built a city Saray al-Jedid(“New Palace”), paid a lot of attention to the development of caravan trade. Trade routes became not only safe, but also well-maintained. The Horde conducted brisk trade with the countries Western Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt, India, China. After Uzbek, his son Janibek, whom Russian chronicles call “kind,” ascended the throne of the khanate.
"The Great Jam"
Battle of Kulikovo. Thumbnail from "Tales of the Massacre of Mamayev"
WITH From 1359 to 1380, more than 25 khans changed on the Golden Horde throne, and many uluses tried to become independent. This time in Russian sources was called the “Great Jam.”
During the lifetime of Khan Dzhanibek (no later than 1357), the Ulus of Shiban proclaimed its own khan, Ming-Timur. And the murder of Khan Berdibek (son of Janibek) in 1359 put an end to the Batuid dynasty, which caused the emergence of a variety of contenders for the Sarai throne from among the eastern branches of the Juchids. Taking advantage of the instability of the central government, a number of regions of the 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, Temnik Mamai. As a result, Mamai, who was the grandson of Isatai, an influential emir from the time of Uzbek Khan, created an independent ulus in the western part of the Horde, right up to the right bank of the Volga. Not being Genghisid, Mamai had no rights to the title of khan, so he limited himself to the position of beklyaribek under the puppet khans from the Batuid clan.
Khans from Ulus Shiban, descendants of Ming-Timur, tried to gain a foothold in Sarai. They really failed to do this; 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 the strong power of the khan.
Following the example of Mamai, other descendants of the emirs also showed a desire for independence. Tengiz-Buga, also the grandson of Isatay, tried to create an independent ulus on the Syrdarya. The Jochids, who rebelled against Tengiz-Buga in 1360 and killed him, continued his separatist policy, proclaiming a khan from among themselves.
Salchen, the third grandson of the same Isatay and at the same time the grandson of Khan Janibek, captured Hadji-Tarkhan. Hussein-Sufi, son of Emir Nangudai and grandson of Khan Uzbek, created an independent ulus in Khorezm in 1361. In 1362, the Lithuanian prince Olgierd seized lands in the Dnieper basin.
The turmoil in the Golden Horde ended after Genghisid Tokhtamysh, with the support of Emir Tamerlane from Transoxiana in 1377-1380, first captured uluses on the Syrdarya, defeating the sons of Urus Khan, and then the throne in Sarai, when Mamai came into direct conflict with Moscow Principality (defeat at Vozha(1378)). Tokhtamysh in 1380 defeated those gathered by Mamai after the defeat in Battle of Kulikovo remnants of troops on the Kalka River.
Board of Tokhtamysh
During the reign of Tokhtamysh (1380-1395), the unrest ceased, and the central government again began to control the entire main territory of the Golden Horde. In 1382 he made a campaign against Moscow and achieved the restoration of tribute payments. After strengthening his position, Tokhtamysh opposed the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, with whom he had previously maintained allied relations. As a result of a series of devastating campaigns of 1391-1396, Tamerlane defeated the troops of Tokhtamysh, captured and destroyed Volga cities, including Sarai-Berke, robbed the cities of Crimea, etc. The Golden Horde was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover.
Collapse of the Golden Horde
In the sixties of the 13th century, important political changes took place in life. former empire Genghis Khan, which could not but affect the nature of Horde-Russian relations. The accelerated collapse of the empire began. The rulers of Karakorum moved to Beijing, the uluses of the empire acquired actual independence, independence from the great khans, and now rivalry between them intensified, acute territorial disputes arose, and a struggle for spheres of influence began. In the 60s, the Jochi ulus became involved in a protracted conflict with the Hulagu ulus, which owned the territory of Iran. It would seem that the Golden Horde had reached the apogee of its power. But here and within it, the process of disintegration, inevitable for early feudalism, began. The “splitting” of the state structure began in the Horde, and now a conflict arose within the ruling elite.
In the early 1420s it was formed Khanate of Siberia, in the 1440s - the Nogai Horde, then Kazan (1438) and Crimean Khanate(1441). After the death of Khan Kichi-Muhammad, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single state.
The Great Horde continued to be formally considered the main one among the Jochid states. In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, tried to achieve obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended unsuccessfully, and Rus' was finally freed from Tatar-Mongol yoke . At the beginning of 1481, Akhmat was killed during an attack on his headquarters by Siberian and Nogai cavalry. Under his children, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Great Horde ceased to exist.
Government structure and administrative division
According to the traditional structure of nomadic states, the Ulus of Jochi after 1242 was divided into two wings: right (western) and left (eastern). The right wing, which represented the Ulus of Batu, was considered the eldest. The Mongols designated the west as white, which is why Batu's Ulus was called the White Horde (Ak Horde). The right wing covered the territory of western Kazakhstan, the Volga region, North Caucasus, Don, Dnieper steppes, Crimea. Its center was Sarai.
The left wing of the Jochi Ulus was in a subordinate position in relation to the right; it occupied the lands of central Kazakhstan and the Syr Darya valley. The Mongols designated the east in blue, so the left wing was called the Blue Horde (Kok Horde). The center of the left wing was Orda-Bazar. Batu's elder brother Orda-Ejen became the khan there.
The wings, in turn, were divided into uluses, which were owned by the other sons of Jochi. Initially there were about 14 such uluses. Plano Carpini, who traveled to the east in 1246-1247, identifies 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 thousand people on 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 characterized by instability: possessions could be transferred to other persons and change their borders. At the beginning of the 14th century, Uzbek Khan carried out a major administrative-territorial reform, according to which the right wing of the Ulus of Jochi was divided into 4 large uluses: Saray, Khorezm, Crimea and Dasht-i-Kipchak, led by ulus emirs (ulusbeks) appointed by the khan. The main ulusbek was the beklyarbek. The next most important dignitary is the vizier. The other two positions were occupied by particularly noble or distinguished feudal lords. These four regions were divided into 70 small estates (tumens), headed by temniks.
The 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 capital of the Golden Horde under Batu became the city of Sarai-Batu (near modern Astrakhan); in the first half of the 14th century, the capital was moved to Sarai-Berke (founded by Khan Berke (1255-1266), near modern Volgograd). Under Khan Uzbek Saray-Berke was renamed Saray Al-Jedid.
Army
The overwhelming part of the Horde army was cavalry, which used traditional combat tactics in battle with mobile cavalry masses of archers. Its core were heavily armed detachments consisting of the nobility, the basis of which was the guard of the Horde ruler. In addition to the Golden Horde warriors, the khans recruited soldiers from among the conquered peoples, as well as mercenaries from the Volga region, Crimea and 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. The most popular bladed weapons were broadswords and sabers. Impact-crushing weapons were also common: maces, six-fingers, coins, klevtsy, flails.
Lamellar and laminar metal armor were common among Horde warriors, and from the 14th century - chain mail and ring-plate armor. The most common armor was the 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 leggings became widespread. Swords were almost universally replaced by sabers. Since the end of the 14th century, cannons have been in service. Horde warriors also began to use field fortifications, in particular, large easel shields - chaparres. In field battles they also used some military-technical means, in particular crossbows.
Population
The Golden Horde was inhabited by: Mongols, Turkic (Cumans, 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 Kipchaks, who, having lost their own aristocracy and the previous tribal division, Assimilated-Turkicized [source not specified 163 days] relatively few in number [source not specified 163 days] Mongolian elite. Over time, the name “Tatars” became common to most Turkic peoples of the western wing of the Golden Horde.
It is important that for many Turkic peoples the name “Tatars” was only an alien exoethnonym 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 Nogais.
Trade
Ceramics of the Golden Horde in the collection State Historical Museum.
Large centers of mainly caravan trade were the cities of Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Uvek, Bulgar, Hadji-Tarkhan, Beljamen, Kazan, Dzhuketau, Madzhar, Mokhshi, Azak (Azov), Urgench and others.
Genoese trading colonies in Crimea ( captaincy of Gothia) and at the mouth of the Don were used by the Horde for trading cloth, fabrics and linen, weapons, women's jewelry, jewelry, precious stones, spices, incense, furs, leather, honey, wax, salt, grain, forest, fish, caviar, olive oil.
The Golden Horde sold slaves and other booty captured by Horde troops during military campaigns to Genoese merchants.
Trade routes leading both to southern Europe and to Central Asia, India and China began from the Crimean trading cities. Trade routes leading to Central Asia and Iran passed along the Volga.
External and internal trade relations were ensured by the issued money of the Golden Horde: silver dirhams and copper pools.
Rulers
In the first period, the rulers recognized the primacy of the great kaan of the Mongol Empire.
- Jochi, son of Genghis Khan, (1224 - 1227)
- Batu (c. 1208 - c. 1255), son of Jochi, (1227 - c. 1255), orlok (jehangir) Yeke Mongol of Ulus (1235 -1241)
- Sartak, son of Batu, (1255/1256)
- Ulagchi, son of Batu (or Sartak), (1256 - 1257) under the regency of Borakchin Khatun, widow of Batu
- Berke, son of Jochi, (1257 - 1266)
- Munke-Timur, son of Tugan, (1266 - 1269)
Khans
- Munke-Timur, (1269—1282)
- There Mengu Khan, (1282 -1287)
- Tula Buga Khan, (1287 -1291)
- Ghiyas ud-Din Tokhtogu Khan, (1291 —1312 )
- Ghiyas ud-Din Muhammad Uzbek Khan, (1312 —1341 )
- Tinibek Khan, (1341 -1342)
- Jalal ud-Din Mahmud Janibek Khan, (1342 —1357 )
- Berdibek, (1357 -1359)
- Kulpa, (August 1359 - January 1360)
- Muhammad Nauruzbek, (January-June 1360)
- Mahmud Khizr Khan, (June 1360 - August 1361)
- Timur Khoja Khan, (August-September 1361)
- Ordumelik, (September-October 1361)
- Kildibek, (October 1361 - September 1362)
- Murad Khan, (September 1362 - autumn 1364)
- Mir Pulad khan, (autumn 1364 - September 1365)
- Aziz Sheikh, (September 1365 -1367)
- Abdullah Khan Khan of Ulus Jochi (1367 -1368)
- Hasan Khan, (1368 -1369)
- Abdullah Khan (1369 -1370)
- Bulak Khan, (1370 -1372) under the regency of Tulunbek Khanum
- Urus Khan, (1372 -1374)
- Circassian Khan, (1374 - early 1375)
- Bulak Khan, (beginning 1375 - June 1375)
- Urus Khan, (June-July 1375)
- Bulak Khan, (July 1375 - end of 1375)
- Ghiyas ud-Din Kaganbek Khan(Aibek Khan), (end 1375 -1377)
- Arabshah Muzzaffar(Kary Khan), (1377 -1380)
- Tokhtamysh, (1380 -1395)
- Timur Kutlug Khan, (1395 —1399 )
- Ghiyas ud-Din Shadibek Khan, (1399 —1408 )
- Pulad Khan, (1407 -1411)
- Timur Khan, (1411 -1412)
- Jalal ad-Din Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1412 -1413)
- Kerim Birdi Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1413 -1414)
- Kepek, (1414)
- Chokre, (1414 -1416)
- Jabbar-Berdi, (1416 -1417)
- Dervish, (1417 -1419)
- Kadir Birdi Khan, son of Tokhtamysh, (1419)
- Haji Muhammad, (1419)
- Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1419 —1423 )
- Barak Khan, (1423 -1426)
- Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1426 —1427 )
- Barak Khan, (1427 -1428)
- Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1428 )
- Kichi-Muhammad, Khan of Ulus Jochi (1428)
- Ulu Muhammad Khan, (1428 —1432 )
- Kichi-Muhammad, (1432 -1459)
Beklyarbeki
- Kurumishi, son of Orda-Ezhen, beklyarbek (1227 -1258) [source not specified 610 days]
- Burundai, beklarbek (1258 -1261) [source not specified 610 days]
- Nogai, great-grandson of Jochi, beklarbek (?—1299/1300)
- Iksar (Ilbasar), son of Tokhta, beklyarbek (1299/1300 - 1309/1310)
- Kutlug-Timur, beklyarbek (ca. 1309/1310 - 1321/1322)
- Mamai, beklyarbek (1357 -1359), (1363 -1364), (1367 -1369), (1370 -1372), (1377 -1380)
- Edigei, son Mangyt Baltychak-bek, beklarbek (1395 -1419)
- Mansur-biy, son of Edigei, beklyarbek (1419)
Saray Batu (Old Saray) is the capital of the Golden Horde, a medieval city on the Akhtuba River, located 80 kilometers from the city of Astrakhan, near the village of Selitrennoye, Kharabalinsky district.
Description of the city of Saray Batu, Astrakhan region.
The ancient city of Saray Batu was founded by Khan Batu in 1250. Khan Batu (Mongolian Bat Khan) was the grandson of Genghis Khan, in Rus' he was called Batu. From his name the name of the city of Sarai Batu, the capital of the Golden Horde, appeared. Initially, on the site of the ancient city, a regular headquarters for nomads was built; only years later it was overgrown with new buildings and structures, turning into a city. Although Old Sarai was the political center of the Golden Horde, it did not immediately become an economic center.
The central part of the capital of the Golden Horde occupied an area of approximately 10 square meters. km, the rest of the area around was built up with estates and estates, and this is about another 20 sq. km. During its prosperity, the city of Sarai Batu was considered incredibly huge. It was home to about 75 thousand people from various ethnic groups. The multinational population included Mongols, Russians, Kipchaks, Alans, Circassians, and Bulgars. Each ethnic group settled in a separate quarter, where all the infrastructure was developed (schools, churches, bazaars, cemeteries). Craftsmen, such as potters, blacksmiths, glassblowers, and jewelers, settled separately, creating their own neighborhoods.
Palaces of rich people and public buildings in the city of Sarai Batu were built exclusively from baked bricks using limestone mortar as a binding material. At home ordinary people were built from cheaper and available material: mud brick and wood. It is interesting that in such ancient times the Old Barn had a sewerage system and a water supply system, and some buildings even had central heating.
History of the city Saray Batu (Old Saray).
The most beautiful and majestic in the capital of the Golden Horde was, of course, the Khan's palace, decorated with real gold. In 1261, Sarai Batu in the Astrakhan region became the center of the Sarai diocese of the Russian Church, and 50 years later - the Catholic bishopric. There were no security structures in the city, but during the period of internecine wars in the middle of the 14th century, the city was surrounded by a low rampart. Sarai Batu was badly damaged during the Great Jame in 1359-1380. During these years there was a huge economic and political crisis in the Golden Horde. Some historians associate this phenomenon with a dynastic crisis - the death of Berdibek, the last grandson of Batu Khan, was the catalyst for this phenomenon. Other historians say that during the “Great Zamyatnya” more than 25 khans changed on the Golden Horde throne, many uluses made attempts to become independent, so all these factors weakened the Golden Horde’s control over Russia. Discord and disagreements began within the dynasty, which the enemies took advantage of.
Finally city Barn Batu fell into decay towards the end of the 15th century. Enemy raids, natural disasters and time destroyed the capital of the Golden Horde. Interesting fact: bricks from the ruins of the city of Sarai Batu were used in the construction of the Astrakhan Kremlin.
The capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai Batu - excavations.
Centuries later, in 1965, the first excavations of this unique ancient city began. Archaeologists have done greatest discovery, buildings with decorations, metal and glass products, weapons and household items, ancient coins minted during the heyday of the Golden Horde.
Initially, it was planned to open a museum at the excavation site. But in 2010, Sarai Batu was completely reconstructed specifically for the large-scale filming of the feature film “St. Alexis.” After filming was completed, it was decided to use the revived city as a tourist attraction. Indeed, when you get to the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai Batu, the city amazes with its maximum historical authenticity, which archaeologists helped to recreate thanks to their long and painstaking work.
