The Golden Horde

Contents

Painting of Ögedey Khan.

He located his ordos in the region of the upper Orkhon and the Qaraqorum Mountains, a region that may have been chosen as the location for Chinggis Khan's yurt or main encampment some ten years earlier and was now part of the ulus of Toluy. It was primarily the spring residence of the Khan, the summer being spent in a Kitayan latticed pavilion in the mountains and the winter being spent further south on the Ongiin River. It would be later, in 1235, that Ögedey would use Kitay craftsmen to build a royal palace at Qaraqorum surrounding it with a perimeter wall. Ögedey called it Ordu Baligh, the City of the Ordos, although it has subsequently become known as Qaraqorum.

The modern setting of Qaraqorum.

Ögedey's first act was to issue a yasa, or decree, that all of Chinggis Khan's previous decisions and orders should be completed without change.

In keeping with this yasa he next despatched an army of 30,000 men under the command of Chormaghun to hunt down Jalal ad-Din in Iran. Jalal ad-Din had returned from India in 1224, building a substantial power base in western Iran that now threatened the house of Jöchi. Chormaghun rallied his troops in Bukhara before crossing the Amu Darya in 1230. It would take Chormaghun until 1231 to finally corner Jalal ad-Din in Armenia, only to see his quarry murdered by Kurdish peasants. Under his leadership the Mongols established a strong presence in north-west Iran over the next decade and increasing domination of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Although he engaged the army of the Caliphate, the city of Baghdad remained unscathed.

At the same time Ögedey ordered Sübetey to prepare for the final annexation of the Chin territories in the east, the Chin having regained much of their lost territory since the death of Chinggis Khan. The campaign was led by Ögedey, with Toluy taking a second army through northern Tibet to attack from the southwest. The Chin capital of Kaifeng fell in May 1233 and final victory was achieved in 1234. Following the success of this campaign the Mongols began their invasion of Korea and the Sung dynasty in the south.

According to Juvaini, Ögedey also fulfilled Chinggis Khan's earlier yarlik and sent an army to "the lands of Qipchaq, Saqsin and Bulghar". Although his translator Boyle assumed that this was under the command of Sübetey, this is not at all clear from Juvaini's text. Of course Sübetey was actually campaigning in northern China at this time.

To make matter worse "The Secret History" is very confused on this matter, suggesting that Sübetey had been sent to these territories after the fall of Gurganj. However it was not Sübetey but Jöchi who had been ordered to go west; Sübetey had been sent from Gurganj to track down the Khorezmshah. The text further implies that following the 1229 qurultai, Sübetey had already crossed the Ural and Volga Rivers and was not only already in the lands of the Qangli, Qipchaq, Bashkirs, Rus, Ossiettes, Sasuds, Magyars, Keshimirs, Circassians, Bulghars and Raral peoples, but was in serious difficulty. Perhaps the author was referring to Sübetey’s ambush by the Bulghars in 1223? The account finally states that as a consequence, Ögedey ordered major reinforcements to be sent west under Batu, something that did not occur until Ögedey's second qurultai in 1234.

It seems likely that no such invasion took place at this early date. The Mongol Empire was already committed on two fronts and it was only after the successful completion of the Iranian and Chin campaigns that Ögedey felt confident enough to commit major military resources to Eastern Europe. It is of course possible that Batu and his sons campaigned against some of the weaker tribes along his western frontier during this period.

The successors of Chinggis Khan.

In 1235 Ögedey assembled the entire Mongol leadership for a second qurultai at Talan-Daba, where it was decided to subjugate the lands of the Bulghars, Bashkirs, Qipchaqs, Alans, Circassians, Rus and Magyars, as well as the Crimea. The invasion would be under the nominal command of Batu, into whose ulus the captured territories would fall. However it would be planned and executed by the ageing Sübetey, whose intelligence gathered on the terrain during his 1222-23 campaign would be invaluable. The expedition would be well resourced, composed of detachments led by a variety of senior princes, two of whom would be future Great Khans. The participants were ordered to return to their ulus to prepare their forces. They included three of Jöchi's other sons (Orda, Sabagan – later Arabicized to Shiban, and Tangqut), two sons of Toluy (Möngke and Böchek), the eldest and two younger sons of Ögedey (Güyük, Qadan and Qadaghan), and one son and one grandson of Chaghatay (Baidar and Büri).

The separate armies set out in the spring of 1236, converging on the borders of the Bulghar territories that autumn. According to Juvaini: "They came together in the territory of the Bulghar. The earth echoed and reverberated from the multitude of their armies, and at the size and tumult of their forces the very beasts stood amazed". Their first objective was to eliminate any threat from Qipchaq nomads, but not all of the local tribes submitted readily. One Qimek chieftain named Bachman gathered the disaffected clans around him and hounded the Mongols along the banks of the Volga. He was finally cornered by Möngke's forces on an island in the river delta later that winter. In the meantime other Mongol forces destroyed the main city of the Bulghar located on the Volga just south of the mouth of the Kama, along with the towns of Suvar and Biliar. They probably spent much of 1237 subjugating the surrounding Bulghar and Bashkir territories. Juzjani mentions Batu's conquest of the Charkas (Cheremiss, now known as Mari), and it is likely that the Mordvins, who then lived on the middle Volga, were also badly affected. As a result of the campaign there was a massive dislocation of the population. Many of the surviving Bulghars moved north beyond the Kama to settle on the Kazanka and Moksha Rivers.

A Persian miniature painting of a Mongol battle scene.

Russia at this time was not a unified state but a collection of principalities occupied by the Rus, an eastern Slavic people whose leaders did surprisingly little to prepare themselves for the coming onslaught. With the arrival of winter the Mongols advanced north to the city of Ryazan on the edge of the steppes. Its prince refused to surrender and sent north for reinforcements. Batu laid siege to the city and commenced a bombardment, forcing its submission within a week. The wooden city was destroyed by fire in December. Sweeping northwards the Mongols destroyed fourteen more cities in two months, including the small fortified outpost of Moscow, the heavily defended cities of Suzdal and Kolomna, and finally the city of Vladimir, the capital of the northern Rus. In early March 1238 the Mongols turned towards the north-west, taking Pereslavl, Yaroslavl and Tver, with Torzhok falling two weeks later. The next Mongol objective was the commercial city of Novgorod, but a sudden thaw created obstacles for the Mongol cavalry, who were forced to quickly withdraw to the south.

There was now a change of tactics. Berke was tasked with subduing the Qipchaqs in southern Russia (where they were known as Cumans or Qumans), one result of which was that the chieftain Kotony (Kotyan) Khan sought asylum for his 40,000 pagan followers in Hungary. These were the Volga Magyars, a remnant of the original Hungarian people who had been left in the east following the Pecheneg invasion in the very late 9th century. One of the consequences of their return was that Hungary received an early warning of the Mongol threat. Meanwhile Shiban and Büri were sent to the Crimea, where we know that Sudaq was looted in late December. Later Güyük, Möngke, Büri and Qadan were sent to overthrow the nomads in the northern Caucasus. Rashid ad-Din recorded that the Alan capital of Majar capitulated to the Mongols after a six-week-long siege in 1239-40.

The causes of this abrupt change in direction are not fully understood. Sinor quotes a Hungarian source that implied the Mongols were waiting for reinforcements to be made available from Iran. Another reason may have been an argument among the senior command – Güyük and Büri seem to have led a revolt against Batu, possibly initiated by a silly dispute over a lapse of social etiquette at a victory dinner. Batu decided to inform Ögedey about the event, who reacted furiously about this loss of discipline in the field. The letter and Ögedey's response are fully covered in "The Secret History". This dispute would have far-reaching consequences, eventually leading to a schism throughout the whole Mongol Empire.

By the spring of 1240 the Mongol army had been reinforced and reorganized. It now turned its attentions towards the south (in what is today the Ukraine) and the major city of Kiev, at that time the most important in all of Rus. First they destroyed Pereslavl and Chernigoff before approaching Kiev. Möngke, the senior commander, sought to preserve the city by negotiating a voluntary surrender. The defenders refused and Kiev was placed under siege, only to fall suddenly on the 6 December after just nine days of bombardment. Some of that destruction was witnessed six years later by the Italian Franciscan Giovanni del Pian di Carpini as he passed on his way to the Volga. The Mongols continued westward, forcing the submission of the towns of Podolsky, Galich and Volynia.

Batu overwintered his troops and livestock on the nearby steppes. Further west lay Poland and to its south the powerful kingdom of Hungary, which then stretched from the Transylvanian Alps to the Adriatic. Indeed it was to Hungary that many of the Rus royal families had fled. Batu had sent numerous envoys and a letter to King Béla IV of Hungary, demanding his submission, but to no effect. The King was well aware of the situation and had prepared his defences and army for the onslaught. His most valuable military assets were the nomadic Cuman warriors under Khan Kotony, who were skilled in steppe warfare.

The encirclement and conquest of Hungary was a masterpiece of Mongol military strategy, planning and command. It was based on an invasion by three armies, the right wing and the left wing each planning to launch a three-pronged assault while the central army advanced undivided. The campaign began in the spring of 1241.

The battle of Liegnitz in Poland in April 1241. Today the town is known as Legnica.

The right wing under the command of Orda advanced from Vladimir with the objective of neutralizing Poland and Silesia before attacking Hungary from the north. Their main objective was to prevent the army of Duke Henry of Silesia from meeting up with, and reinforcing, that of King Béla of Hungary. They crossed the frozen Vistula to take Sandomir, Cracow and Wroclaw before defeating Duke Henry's Polish army at the battle of Liegnitz in early April. They now rode south, planning to rendezvous with Batu close to Pest. The left wing meanwhile swept through the Carpathian Mountains, overwhelming the Transylvanian army at Sibiu. The central army under Batu, Shiban and Sübetey headed directly towards Pest, breaking through the heavily defended Verecke pass (the Gate of Russia) before taking the town of Vác. News that the Mongols had breached the pass reached Pest on 15 March, causing panic. The Hungarian nobles accused the Cumans of being in league with the Mongols. Taking offence Khan Kotony rallied his Cuman warriors and departed for Bulgaria, leaving the conventional Hungarian forces to defend the capital alone.

Detailed plan of the Mongol invasion of Hungary.

Batu was now phasing his advance so that he could join up with his right and left wings before engaging the main Hungarian army, in line with Sübetey's main battle plan. However King Béla had led his forces out from Pest to intercept Batu before he could make his planned rendezvous. The two opposing armies converged on the river Sajo and struck camp on different sides, the Hungarians choosing an exposed position on the plain of Mohi. Avoiding a conventional battle, Sübetey launched a surprise attack on the Hungarians during the night of 10-11 April. As his main forces crossed the bridge, catapults were used to clear defenders from the far bank. One division had already secretly crossed the river to attack from the rear, so the Hungarians were surrounded and suffered devastating losses. The crafty Mongols had left a deliberate gap in their encirclement to create a trap for the fleeing Hungarians, who were funnelled into marshland before being picked off by Mongol archers. Even so the Mongols also suffered heavy losses.

We understand from Juvaini that Shiban played a major part in this battle, initially commanding the reconnaissance mission to spy out the enemy's strength and positions, and later playing an important role in the main frontal attack. In recognition of his valiant role in the campaign, Batu appointed Shiban the "King of Hungary".

The Mongols now secured the surrounding regions of Eastern Hungary before slowly advancing towards the Danube. One reconnaissance group advanced into Austria, almost reaching Vienna before returning to Hungary. King Béla had first fled into Austria where he was held to ransom by the monarch Duke Frederick. He then headed south to Croatia, seeking refuge on several offshore islands in the Adriatic during February 1242. Batu had already despatched forces under Qadan to track him down. The Mongols crossed the Danube on 25 December 1241, laying siege to Strigonia or Gran. Qadan headed first for Dalmatia where he encountered strong Croatian opposition, then entered Croatia bypassing the heavily defended town of Split before passing into northern Albania.

In the meantime the main Mongol armies prepared their evacuation from Hungary, never to return. Batu followed the south bank of the Danube into Bulgaria, while Orda headed through Transylvania for the same destination. There they persuaded the Bulgarian regents to accept Mongol suzerainty. Despite numerous skirmishes Qadan failed to corner his quarry King Béla, who would later return to rebuild and refortify his country. Qadan passed through Bosnia and Serbia to rejoin the main Mongol army at Walachia.

"The Secret History" notes that before the Mongols returned they appointed resident commanders (darughachins) and garrison commanders (tangmachis). This was certainly not true in the case of the Rus principalities, which became vassal states, their leaders continuing to rule subject to the payment of tribute.

It is likely that by January or February 1242, Batu had received news concerning the death of the Great Khan Ögedey which, according to Juvaini, occurred on 11 December. Ögedey Khan had been a heavy drinker and as his health deteriorated, Chaghatay had appointed a supervisor to try and control his intake. Ögedey's death is frequently quoted as the reason for the cessation of the European campaign. However the real reason may have been the need for sufficient pasturage. Every Mongol warrior travelled with at least three or four horses, often more, and Batu's army would have required an enormous acreage of pastureland for its sustenance. The steppes of Hungary may have been just too inadequate, forcing the Mongols back east into the vast Russian steppes.

In any event as a son of the disgraced Jöchi, Batu was never going to be a candidate for Khagan and as we shall see he made no attempt to return to Mongolia. After entering the southern Russian steppes, Batu spent the winter of 1242-43 with his sons on the Volga. It was only the other princes, Güyük and Möngke included, who continued travelling eastwards back to Mongolia.

Grand Prince Yaroslav of Vladimir was the first Russian leader to visit Batu at his ordos on the Volga in 1243 on his route to Mongolia. Here he received Batu's yarlik or charter - his authority to rule. Other Russian leaders would follow in his wake. The Russians would wear the "Mongol yoke" until the end of the 15th century.

The White, Blue and Grey Hordes

• Batu retained the most westerly territories of the Qipchaqs and Bulghars, or the right wing, encompassing south-east Russia and the Ukraine. His territories reached as far west as the Carpathian Mountains, the Transylvanian Alps and the Balkan Mountains. In the south it followed the northern coastline of the Black Sea, including the Crimea, reaching eastward to the Volga and Kama Rivers, the Emba and Ural Rivers, the Mangishlaq and Ustyurt deserts and finally western Khorezm. To the north it reached as far as the edge of the steppe zone. The Bulghars and the principalities of the Rus located in the forest zone remained vassal states.



• Orda was given the most easterly part of the ulus, the left wing, covering most of present-day central and eastern Kazakhstan. In the south his territory ranged from the mouth of the Syr Darya and the eastern seaboard of the Aral Sea to the city of Sighnaq on the Syr Darya and the foothills of the Qarataw Mountains. In the north it ranged from the Ulutau heights across the basin of the Sarysu to the Irtysh River.



• Shiban was given the region lying between the domains of Batu and Orda. It was located to the east, south-east and south of the southern Ural Mountains, encompassing parts of eastern Russia and western Kazakhstan. It ranged in the north from the Ilek tributary of the Ural River south of Orenburg, to the headwaters of the Ishim and Tobol Rivers, and in the south to the northern Ustyurt and the Little Aral Sea.

A traditional map of the combined territories of the Golden Horde.
Image courtesy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1994.

Batu's Khanate of Qipchaq

Imaginative painting of the Great Khan Güyük.

The qurultai finally took place at Köko Lake close to Qaraqorum in the spring of 1246, the guests being accommodated in 2,000 felt tents. It was attended by Ordu, Shiban, Berke, Berkecher and Toqa-Temür from Jöch's ulus, Batu remaining on the Volga. It was universally agreed that one of Ögedey's sons should inherit the throne, since Shiremün was still under age. Töregene Khatun favoured Güyük, and as her other sons supported this proposal he was finally raised to the throne that August.

News of Batu's invasion of Eastern Europe had soon spread to the West, which had been engaged in its own intermittent Crusade against the Muslims in the Holy Land. As early as 1238, Syrian envoys had visited England and France to suggest a Christian-Muslim alliance against the Mongol threat. Appeals from Georgia and Galicia soon followed, emphasizing the extent of the threat. Yet some European rulers saw the Mongols as a potential ally against the Muslims. The new Pope Innocent IV was so concerned about a further invasion that in 1245 he despatched four embassies to the Mongol Empire, two led by Dominicans and two by Franciscans. Andrew of Longjumeau visited Syria and Palestine before later journeying to Mongolia with letters and gifts from Louis IX of France. He arrived after the death of the Great Khan Güyük and had a rather fruitless encounter with his widow Oghul-Qaimish (see below) who interpreted Louis's message as submission and sent a reply demanding gold and silver tribute. Ascelinus was sent via Anatolia to Georgia where he visited the camp of Baichu, the Mongol general who had replaced Chormaghun in the Middle East in 1242. As for Lawrence of Portugal's mission, it may never have got off the ground. It was the embassy of the 65-year-old Giovanni del Pian di Carpini to Central Asia and Mongolia that has left us with the most memorable account. Carpini departed from Lyon in 1245 and, thanks to his breakneck ride across Central Asia, we have been left with a detailed historical record of Güyük's election and subsequent enthronement.

The route of Giovanni del Pian di Carpini to Qaraqorum.
Shown as the upper blue line with crosses.

Carpini turned out to be just one of some 400 envoys who had travelled from all quarters of the Mongol and non-Mongol world, ranging from Russia, Georgia, Iran and Baghdad to Manchuria and China. The election was restricted to the Mongol inner circle and took place in a large white velvet pavilion. The enthronement however was a more public event, staged in a brocade lined tent called the Golden Orda, and was accompanied by extravagant gift giving and feasting. The Pope had sent two rambling messages to the stern Güyük Khan, the first asking him to convert to Christianity, the second asking about his future plans, beseeching him to respect the lands of the Christians and warning him of the prospect of punishment in the afterlife in the event of further Mongol atrocities. The Mongol Khan dictated his reply several months later, noting that the Mongols could not have subjugated so vast a territory without the will of God. He warned the Pope that he would be regarded as an enemy if he failed to submit to Mongol authority at Güyük's court at Qaraqorum.

Güyük Khan's letter to Pope Innocent IV dated 3-11 November 1246.
From the Vatican Archive, Rome.

On his way to Qaraqorum, Carpini had briefly visited Batu's encampment on the Volga. Batu was described as living "with considerable magnificence, having door-keepers and all officials just like their Emperor". He occupied an elevated throne in one of several large and beautiful linen tents captured from the King of Hungary. His encampment was on the eastern border of the territories of the Cumans who were divided between various tribal chieftains. The Mordvins lived to the north of the Cumans and the Alans, Circassians and Kazars lived to the south. To the east was the waterless country of the Qangli stretching as far as the lower Syr Darya. The minority of Qangli who had survived the Mongol invasion had been reduced to slavery.

Some have interpreted Güyük Khan's response to Pope Innocent IV as a clear indication that he intended to mount a second and more comprehensive invasion of the Christian West. Certainly one of his priorities seems to have been to oust Batu from the Khanate of Qipchaq. One of his first moves was to despatch an army under Eljigitei to Iran with instructions to take control of Rum, Georgia and Aleppo "in order that no one else might interfere with them and the rulers of those parts might be answerable to him for their tribute". The Mamluk writer Umari suggested that Eljigitei was even authorized to arrest Batu's lieutenants in the Caucasus.

It seems that Güyük Khan was concerned about the increasing autonomy of the major ulus. According to Juvaini, Güyük requested Batu to meet with him and Batu finally set out towards the east. Both Juvaini and Rashid al-Din agree that Güyük Khan also set out with a large army on the pretext of returning to his yurt on the Emil River. Sorqoqtani Beki, the senior wife of Toluy, sent a warning to Batu of Güyük's suspicious advance. Beki was a niece of the Kereit Ong Khan Toghrïl and a sister to one of Jöchi's widows. However in April 1248 when Güyük Khan had only reached Qum-Sengir, one week's journey from the Uyghur capital of Besh-Baliq, he died, thus averting a Mongol civil war. Batu received the news at Ala-Qamaq, not far from Lake Issyk Kul.

Chinggis Khan's chief sons were all dead so Batu was now the most senior of the elder princes. He was a forceful man, determined to prevent the election of another Ögedeyid Khan. While the Great Khan's widow, Oghul-Qaimish, acted as temporary regent, Batu called the Mongol princes together at Ala-Qamaq and persuaded them to support Toluy's eldest son Möngke, arguing that Ögedey's sons had ignored their father's bequest to elect Shiremün while the late Toluy had originally been the rightful heir to Chinggis's throne. Rashid al-Din offers another version with Batu calling the same meeting on the Qipchaq steppe, which the sons of Ögedey, Güyük and Chaghatay declined because it was not in the traditional Mongol yurt. Sorqoqtani Beki instructed Möngke and his brothers to travel to Batu's court instead. Impressed with Möngke's qualities, Batu then sent out messages to all the princes proposing that he should succeed Güyük.

Both authors agree that a qurultai was planned between the Onon and Kelüren Rivers but that it did not convene until the summer of 1251 because of delaying tactics by Ögedey's family. Batu remained on the Volga and was represented by his brothers Berke and Toqa-Temür and his son Sartaq. Möngke was finally enthroned in the absence of the Ögedeyids. The Toluyids had gained control of the Empire. Apart from the shrewd manipulation of Sorqoqtani Bek, we must remember that Möngke benefited from the fact that his family controlled the military might of Mongolia. Shortly after the coronation a plot to oust the new Khan was uncovered. It led to a major purge and the execution of the rebel Ögedeyid princes and their supporters, in addition to Güyük's widow Oghul-Qaimish, all the adult sons and grandsons of Chaghatay, and Eljigidei and his family.

The forceful Batu had effectively staged a coup d'état, placing his friend and ally Möngke on the Mongol throne. With Möngke's approval the Khanate of Qipchaq effectively gained autonomy, Batu reigning in the west and Möngke reigning in the east, the frontier between their domains lying, according to Rubruck, between the Talas and Chu Rivers. As a bonus the Chaghatay ulus became divided, the eastern parts falling under the control of Möngke, and Transoxiana and western Ferghana under the control of the Khanate of Qipchaq.

At the same qurultai in Mongolia Möngke reopened the Mongol offensives in the east and the west, assigning the campaigns to two of his younger brothers. Qubilai was ordered to restart the campaign against the Sung in southern China, while Hulägu was to take control of Iran and Iraq and to extend Mongol rule as far as Eqypt. Hulägu would first need to subjugate the Isma'ili imams in Mazandaran, the Assassins who had attempted to assassinate the Great Khan in Qaraqorum, before destroying the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad and then moving on to Syria and Egypt. His army included contingents provided by Batu and the other Mongol princes and included 1,000 households of Chinese catapult engineers.

Thanks to the Franciscan evangelist William of Rubruck, we have a detailed picture of life in the domains of Batu and Möngke just two years after this important event. Louis IX of France had received envoys from Eljigitei in Cyprus in 1248 while on his way to Palestine. They carried a friendly letter and news of the Mongol plan to attack Baghdad. Carrying a letter from the King of France, Rubruck left Constantinople by sea for the Crimea in May 1253 and then travelled in wagons across the Qipchaq steppes. The whole region was divided up between different tribal chieftains, each "familiar with the limits of his pasturelands and where he ought to graze in summer and winter, and in spring and autumn". Each tribe roamed with wagons loaded with their portable dwellings, accompanied by huge herds of cattle, sheep and horses. However beyond Kazaria the former Qipchaq territories were now deserted. Rubruck crossed the Don and first reached the encampment of Batu's son, Sartaq, before being guided a further three days to the Volga. Batu's yurt was on the eastern side of the lower Volga, while that of his brother Berke was further south on the route from the Iron Gate (Derbent) in the Caucasus. Rubruck reached Batu's encampment in August 1253 and was shocked by its enormity:

"On sighting Batu's camp, I was struck with awe. His own dwellings had the appearance of a large city stretching far out lengthways and with inhabitants scattered around in every direction for a distance of 3 or 4 leagues [10-15 km!]. And just as everyone of the people of Israel knew on which side of the Tabernacle to pitch their tent, so these people know on what side of the residence to station themselves when they are unloading their dwellings. For this reason the court is called in their language orda, meaning "the middle", since it is always situated in the midst of his men, except that nobody takes up his station due south, this being the direction towards which the doors of the residence open. But to the right and left they spread themselves out as far as they like within the limitations imposed by the terrain, provided that they refrain from alighting directly in front of the residence or opposite it."

Hulägu Khan and his Kereit consort, the Dokuz Qatun.
From a copy of Rashid al-Din's "History of the World".

The first divide occurred with Hulägu who was slowly making progress in Iran and Iraq 'Ajami. The Isma'ilis (also known as the Assassins) had surrendered to the Mongols at Alamut in late 1256 and some had fled to the Aral Sea delta in the region of present-day Moynaq. By the start of 1258 Hulägu's army were preparing to surround Baghdad. By late February the city had been overwhelmed, the defenders massacred and the Caliph trampled to death by horses. Now Hulägu directed his army northwards, taking Azerbaijan before attacking Muslim Syria in September 1259. By February 1260 Damascus had been overthrown. In Egypt the Mamluks readied a large army for the threatened Mongol invasion. However the arrival of news of the Great Khan Möngke's death in China in 1259 left Hulägu in an exposed position and he withdrew the bulk of his forces back to Iran, leaving a much reduced force in Syria under Kit-Buqa. In a letter to Louis IX Hulägu indicated the cause to be a shortage of fodder. Kit-Buqa met Qutuz and his Mamluk army at Ayn Jalut in Galilee and the Mongols were defeated and driven from Syria which became Mamluk. Qutuz was rewarded for his victory with a putsch that placed Sultan Baybars, one of his commanders, on the throne.

For Berke, Hulägu's advance into the pasturelands of Azerbaijan was an encroachment upon the territories of the "House of Jöchi", which had already been trodden upon by the "hoof of the Tatar horse", thereby breaking Chinggis Khan's yasa. Although the Caucasus Mountains formed a natural boundary between the Iranian and Qipchaq domains, the Qipchaqs had traditionally pastured on the steppes of Arran and Azerbaijan. We also understand from the Mamluk writer al-Umari that Möngke had previously assigned the northern Iranian cities of Tabriz and Maragheh to Berke's ulus. While Islamic authors have played on Berke's indignation over the murder of the Caliph, the primary reason for the dispute was the challenge to the status and sphere of influence of the Qipchaq Khanate. Berke also knew that the stability provided by Hulägu's new Ilkhan state would open up a competitive trade route between the Mongol east and the west, which at that time was channelled mainly via Khorezm and the Volga.

Berke had originally supplied a contingent of troops to Hulägu's army. It is possible that he subsequently ordered their recall because Hulägu commenced a massacre of the Jöchid forces. At least three Jöchid princes who had participated in the siege of Baghdad were killed at Hulägu's camp, one for sorcery and two supposedly by poison. The surviving Jöchid forces fled, some making their way back to Qipchaq, a small number managing to reach Cairo. Berke responded by sending an army, led by his nephew Prince Noghay (a great grandson of Chinggis), through the Caucasus Mountains into Azerbaijan. Hulägu moved north and defeated Noghay in November 1262, forcing him back through the Derbent pass back onto the Qipchaq steppe. The Ilkhanids then crossed the Terek River, capturing an empty enemy encampment, only to be routed in a surprise attack by Noghay's forces. Many of them were drowned as the ice broke on the frozen Terek River. It was the first encounter between two opposing Mongol armies.

The outbreak of war between Berke and Hulägu had occurred while Niccolo and Maffio Polo were at Saray, having arrived one year earlier by means of Sudaq with jewellery from Constantinople to trade with the Khan . Barred from returning to the Mediterranean through Persia, they decided to travel eastwards to Bukhara, first crossing the Volga at Ukek.

Sultan Baybars saw the Khanate of Qipchaq as a natural ally against the Ilkhanate of Persia and ambassadors were exchanged, communication being facilitated by the Greek recapture of Constantinople under Michael Palaeologus in 1261. The Mamluks were ethnically Qipchaq and obtained many of their soldiers in the form of slaves from the Qipchaq steppes. While Berke and Baybars considered several options, no joint campaign was ever agreed although the increasing power of the Mamluks kept Egypt and Syria away from Ilkhanid control.

Meanwhile the death of the Great Khan Möngke had led to a contest between two of his brothers, Qubilai and the younger Ariq-böke. Ariq-böke, who was responsible for the homeland and was already in Qaraqorum, may have been Möngke's chosen successor. He therefore became the temporary regent and began the preparations for a qurultai. Qubilai meanwhile brought his army north to his summer encampment on the edge of the Gobi Desert, close to modern Duolun and, at a stage-managed qurultai, he declared himself Supreme Khan. This was a clear breach of Chinggisid tradition and the advisors at Möngke's court encouraged Ariq-böke to also take the throne. Berke now threw his support behind Ariq-böke, while Hulägu supported Qubilai, splitting the Mongol ulus down the middle.

A four-year-long civil war ensued in which Qubilai's military forces eventually proved decisive. Qubilai won the first battle in Kansu and then advanced into Mongolia, forcing Ariq-böke into the Upper Yenisei. Ariq-böke then recaptured Qaraqorum and engaged Qubilai close to the Gobi desert. At this point the civil war appeared evenly balanced.

Ariq-böke had earlier placed Chaghatay's grandson Alughu in charge of the former Chaghatay ulus of East Turkestan with the task of preventing reinforcements being sent from Hulägu to Qubilai. Alughu exploited the opportunity to rebuild his ulus and took control of Samarkand and Bukhara, before reneging on Ariq-böke and declaring his support for Qubilai. His defection turned the tide, allowing Qubilai to attack from the east to re-occupy Qaraqorum, while Alughu attacked from the west. Ariq-böke was trapped and forced to surrender in 1264. Alughu then declared war on Berke Khan, seizing Otrar and Khorezm. While left bank Khorezm would eventually be retaken, the Qipchaq Khanate had lost its control over Transoxiana.

In the year of his victory, 1264, Qubilai decided to build a new capital of the empire at Khanbaliq, the City of the Khan, known in the west as Cambalec and better known today as Beijing. Qubilai's victory and his removal of the throne from Qaraqorum further isolated the Khanate of Qipchaq from the other Mongol ulus, increasing its autonomy. Hulägu on the other hand styled himself the Il-Khan, or subservient Khan, indicating his subordination to the new Great Khan in the East.

Hulägu's death in 1266 may have given Berke another opportunity to take control of the Caucasus. In the following year he advanced into Azerbaijan with his general Noghay, but was repulsed by Hulägu's son Abaqa. Berke was killed at a battle at Tiflis in Georgia and Noghay lost an eye.

Berke was succeeded by Batu's grandson Möngke Temür, who was a non-Muslim. Möngke Temür maintained the alliance with Mamluk Egypt and Byzantium and seems to have reached a stalemate with the new Il-Khan Abaqa. However he continued to oppose the rule of the usurper Qubilai Khan and supported the Ögedeyid prince Qaidu's fight against Baraq Khan, the ally of Qubilai, who was now in control of Chaghatay's ulus. To emphasize the Khanate of Qipchaq's independence from Qubilai, Möngke Temür began to issue his own coinage, which bore no reference to the Great Khan.

Mongol trade with Byzantium and the Mediterranean was increasing with goods passing from Saray to Tana to be exported through the Khanate of Qipchaq port of Sudaq in the Crimea. The Genoese had acquired a monopoly on the trading rights across the Black Sea from Michael Palaeologos, who had dislodged the Venetians from Constantinople. Now Möngke Temür granted the Genoese permission to establish a port at Caffa. Berke had been responsible for transforming Saray from a camping ground to a town or city, probably founding a mosque or medresseh and even a bishopric. Indeed the anonymous Arab writer of the Mesalek al-Absar even claimed that Berke was the founder of Saray: "The town stood in a salty plain, and was without walls, though the palace had walls flanked by towers". Apparently the town was large and had markets, medressehs and baths. It became known as Berke Sari, while the Dasht-i Qipchaq became known as Berke's steppe.

When Möngke Temür died in 1280 he left the Khanate in an economically and militarily powerful position. It still remained primarily a nomadic state whose population was overwhelmingly Turkic, the number of Mongols having progressively declined as a result of the continuing demands upon the Qipchaq Khanate for military resources. Now the Mongol leadership was increasingly coming under the cultural, linguistic, and religious influence of its mainly Muslim Turkish population. Its only sedentary centres were located in Saray, the Crimea and in Urgench, but these were all rapidly growing and were the main centres of Muslim teaching. Of course the bulk of the Qipchaq nomads still remained pagan at this time.

The Mongol Empire itself had been permanently fractured into four effectively independent khanates: Qubilai in China, where the Yüan dynasty had been established in 1271; the Chaghatay Khanate in Transoxiana and Ferghana; the Il-Khante in Iran and Iraq; and finally the Khanate of Qipchaq.

These divisions would lead to a halt in the empire's outward expansion as its military resources became increasing redirected towards internal conflicts.

Emir Noghay and Toqta Khan

The battle between Noghay and Toqta in 1298-99.
From a copy of the Jami al-Tavarikh by Rashid al-Din, Indian Society of Oriental Art, Kolkata.

This defeat had profound consequences for Noghay's sons and supporters. Cheke immediately laid claim to his fathers domains but was forced to seek refuge with the As or Alans to avoid being captured by his pursuers. Cheke had earlier married one of George Terter's daughters and decided to head for Bulgaria with his supporters, where he joined forces with his brother-in-law Svetoslav. Marching into Tarnavo in late 1299 Cheke ousted the temporary ruler Ivan II and placed himself on the Emperor's throne with Svetosalv installed his deputy. It was here that he was approached by his mother and brother Teke, who proposed that he make a peace deal with Toqta, an idea that so outraged him that he had them both murdered, creating a further schism through the ranks of Noghay's ruling tribe. Fearing reprisals from Toqta, Svetoslav finally deposed Cheke in 1300 and had him strangled in prison. After receiving Cheke's head, Toqta installed Svetoslav as the new Emperor.

Noghay's former appanage had been divided among Toqta's family, the largest part going to his brother Serai Bugha. Although two of Noghay's sons were dead, Buri was still seeking revenge for the death of his brothers and father. In 1301 Buri persuaded Serai Bugha to rebel against Toqta, but the plot was uncovered and Buri and Serai Bugha were both killed, Serai Bugha's territories now passing to one of Toqta's sons. According to al-Nuwayri one of Cheke's sons, Kara Kesek, had survived the killings and fled with two of his relatives and about 3,000 supporters to "the country of Shishmen", reaching a place called Bdin, which Vásáry interprets as Vidin, a semi-independent Bulgarian state on the southern bank of the Danube. The Tatars formed a military alliance with Shishmen and settled in his territory.

Although Toqta was finally free from Noghay interference, the tribal leadership of his White Horde had been shaken by the internal conflict and its vassal states had gained confidence. Toqta now weakened the White Horde economy by picking a fight with the Genoese colonies in the Crimea. Concerned by the continuing export of Qipchaq slaves for the Mamluk army, Toqta arrested the Genoese residents of Saray in 1307 and then besieged the port of Caffa. The Genoese responded in May 1308 by departing by sea leaving their city in flames. They then established a naval blockade of the Black Sea ports, depriving the Horde of valuable revenues.

Despite the ongoing struggle among the ruling families for power, life within the Khanate of Qipchaq remained orderly. Thanks to the so-called Pax Mongolica, travel remained safe and commerce was buoyant. Ambassadors began to flock to Saray, Qaraqorum and Beijing from all quarters of Eurasia. In return two Mongol ambassadors even turned up in Northampton in 1307 carrying letters for Edward II.

In his final years Toqta turned his attention back to Russia and considered eliminating the special status of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, placing all the Russian princes on the same level. In 1312 he set off by boat up the Volga to see these territories at first hand but in August he fell ill and died before leaving the boat.

Özbeg Khan

Mikhail of Tver standing before Özbeg Khan.
A drawing by Vasiliy Vereshchagin.

In 1321 Yuri collected taxes from Dmitri of Tver, the son of the late Mikhail, but instead of delivering it to Saray, kept it for himself. Now Dmitri grabbed the initiative and travelled to Özbeg's court, revealing Yuri's treachery and convincing Özbeg to endow him with his father's patent. Yuri responded by assembling a delegation in Novgorod to travel to the Volga with his treasury, only to be robbed along the way by Dmitri's brother. It took several years for Yuri to accumulate enough wealth to feel confident enough to restart his journey, only to be assassinated by Dmitri after entering the Khanate of Qipchaq.

Dmitri of Tver killing Yuri Daniilovich.
From the Russian "Chronicle of Kings".

When Mongol tax assessors (one of whom was Özbeg's cousin) entered Tver in 1327, they were killed by its inhabitants, responding to a wild rumour that they were about to be forcibly converted to Islam. Ivan Daniilovich of Moscow, Yuri's brother, immediately sent his own governors to Novgorod while setting off himself to Özbeg's encampment. He returned at the head of a Mongol army in order to punish Tver for its uprising and rewarded the Mongol generals and emissaries with a special tribute. In turn Özbeg rewarded Ivan I with the Grand Principality of Vladimir, Novgorod and Moscow. He chose Moscow as his residence and enclosed it with a rampart. He and his successors ruthlessly exploited their reluctant subjects on behalf of the Khanate for the next forty years, gradually building up their power base in northern Russia.

The Khanate of Qipchaq in the 1330s

• Bulghar, on the left bank of the Volga some 80km north of modern Simbirsk,


• Ukek, on the Volga between Bulghar and Saray, 10km south of modern Saratov,


• Saray, on the right bank of the middle Aqtuba River 170km north of modern Astrakhan,


• Hajji-Tarkhan, now Astrakhan,


• Azak, at the mouth of the Don, the location of the new Venetian colony of Tana,

• Ketch, a port on the eastern tip of the Crimea,


• Caffa, the rapidly growing Christian colony of the Genoese, now the modern town of Feodosia,


• Sudaq, the earliest main Mongol port on the Crimea, called Soldaia by the Venetians and sometimes referred to as Krim, 60km west of Feodosia,


• Cherson, at the mouth of the Dnieper River,


• Aq Kerman, know to the Italians as Moncastro, at the mouth of the Dniester River, and Kiliya further south.

• Majar, the former capital of the Alans on the left bank of the Kuma River east of modern Stavropol, between the Black and Caspian Seas, and


• Saraichik, founded by Batu on the Ural River, 50km from the modern Kazakh city of Atyrau.

• Urgench, on the Darya Lyk outlet located on the left bank of the Amu Darya, the remains of which lay close to Konya Urgench in northern Turkmenistan,


• Mizdahkan, just over the Karakalpak border east of Urgench,


• Pul'jai, on the edge of the Ustyurt on the west coast of the Aral Sea, and


• Bograkhan, in the Aral delta close to modern Kungrad.

Fanciful illustration of the transportation of a Mongol gur by cart.
From the 1871 translation of "The Travels of Marco Polo" by Yule and Cordier.

From Özbeg's encampment Ibn Battuta claims to have travelled 10 days to the city of Bulghar, but left us no description of that city. Perhaps this is not surprising since the journey would have taken him far longer. He says that he had intended to travel further north to the "Land of Darkness", a further 40 days on from Bulghar, but was dissuaded by the high cost of hiring dog sleighs. From Bish Dagh he accompanied the ordu as it travelled to Hajji Tarkhan, where the Khan spent the hardest months of the winter. Hajji Tarkhan was "one of the finest cities, with great bazaars, built on the river Itil [Volga], which is one of the great rivers of the world". As the surface of the river turned to ice it was covered with straw and used as a highway for wagons.

One of the Khan's wives, the Khatun Bayalun, was a daughter of the Greek King of Constantinople and had been given permission to visit her father from Hajji Tarkhan. Ibn Battuta grasped the opportunity to accompany her retinue on the journey to this great city. Surprisingly they travelled overland, crossing the Volga at Ukek, "a city of middling size, with fine buildings and abundant commodities, and extremely cold". From there they journeyed to Baba Saltuq, possibly located on the lower Dnieper or in the Dobruja region of Romania, passing through an uninhabited waste before reaching the territories of the Greeks.

On his return he found the Khan had moved on to Old Saray and he travelled on a 3 day journey up the frozen Volga to meet him. He discovered that the capital was a thriving multi-cultural city:

"The city of al-Sara is one of the finest of cities, of boundless size, situated in a plain, choked with the throng of its inhabitants, and possessing good bazaars and broad streets. We rode out one day with one of its principal men, intending to make a circuit of the city and find out its extent. Our lodging place was at one end of it and we set out from it in the early morning, and it was after midday when we reached the other end. There are various groups of people among its inhabitants; these include the Mughals [Mongols], who are the dwellers in this country and its sultans, and some of whom are Muslims, then the As [Alans], who are Muslims, the Qifjaq, the Jarkas [Circassians], the Rus and the Rum – all these are Christians. Each group lives in a separate quarter with its bazaars. Merchants and strangers from the two Iraqs, Egypt, Syria and elsewhere, live in a quarter which is surrounded by a wall for the protection of the properties of the merchants. The sultan's palace is called Altun Tash, altun meaning gold and tash head [actually stone]."

"... we arrived at Khorezm [Urgench] which is the largest, greatest, most beautiful and most important city of the Turks. It has fine bazaars and broad streets, a great number of buildings and abundance of commodities; it shakes under the weight of its population, by reason of their multitude, and is agitated by them in a manner resembling the waves of the sea. I rode out one day on horseback and went into the bazaar, but when I got halfway through it and reached the densest pressure of the crowd at a point called al-Shawr [crossroad], I could not advance any further because of the multitude of the press, and when I tried to go back I was unable to do that either, because of the crowd of people. So I remained as I was, in perplexity, and only with great exertions did I manage to return."

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