The Golden Horde – or Ulug Ulus (‘Great State’) – was originally a northwest sector of the Mongol Empire, which became one of four independent khanates after the fragmentation of the empire in 1259, led by the son of Ghengis Khan, Jochi.
Our Golden Horde polity begins in 1240 when Khan Batu, the grandson of Ghengis Khan, sacked and burned the city of Kiev, conquering and subjugating the region of the Russian steppe and its principalities.
The merging of the nomadic, shamanist, mongol-turkic Gold Horde, with the devoutly Christian and settled people of the Russian steppes, brought about many changes for both sides.
From the fourteenth century the Horde officially converted to Islam under the rule of Öz Beg (Uzbek) Khan
At its greatest extent, around 1330, the Golden Horde territory ran from the Carpathian Mountains to the steppes of Siberia, while the south bordered the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains and the Iranian territory of the Il-Khans.
[1]
[2]
[1]: “Golden Horde”. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VXQGWC6R
[2]: Atwood 2004: vii. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
| 39 N |
| Golden Horde |
| Sarai Batu (also Sarai or Saray or Old Sarai) | |
| Sarai Berke (also New Sarai or New Saray) |
| Ulug Ulus | |
| Kipchap Khanate | |
| Ulus of Jochi |
| 75,000 people |
| 6,000,000 km2 | 1310 CE |
| [400,000 to 600,000] people |
| 300 |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| inferred Transitional (Present -> Absent) |
| Transitional (Absent -> Present) |
| inferred Transitional (Present -> Absent) |
| present |
| inferred Transitional (Present -> Absent) |
| present |
| inferred Transitional (Present -> Absent) |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| Transitional (Absent -> Present) |
| present |
| Transitional (Present -> Absent) |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Golden Horde (ru_golden_horde) was in: |
|---|
The first Golden Horde capital was established by Batu Khan on the lower banks of the Volga River. Under the reign of Berke Khan, the capital was moved upstream and renamed. In the fourteenth century the capital of Sarai was described as a typical Muslim city, having running water, mosques, meddress’ (higher learning), palaces, merchants’ quarters and inns for travellers. [1] [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Schamiloglu 2018: 23. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4DIB5VCX
The first Golden Horde capital was established by Batu Khan on the lower banks of the Volga River. Under the reign of Berke Khan, the capital was moved upstream and renamed. In the fourteenth century the capital of Sarai was described as a typical Muslim city, having running water, mosques, meddress’ (higher learning), palaces, merchants’ quarters and inns for travellers. [1] [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Schamiloglu 2018: 23. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4DIB5VCX
It was not until the sixteenth-century that the name Golden Horde was given to this independent entity of the Mongols. Prior to this they were referred to as Dasht-I Qifchaq¸ ‘Qipchaq Steppe’, or Ulus (realm) of Jochi, the ancestor of the Golden Horde khans. . [1]
[1]: Atwood 2004: 201. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
It was not until the sixteenth-century that the name Golden Horde was given to this independent entity of the Mongols. Prior to this they were referred to as Dasht-I Qifchaq¸ ‘Qipchaq Steppe’, or Ulus (realm) of Jochi, the ancestor of the Golden Horde khans. . [1]
[1]: Atwood 2004: 201. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
It was not until the sixteenth-century that the name Golden Horde was given to this independent entity of the Mongols. Prior to this they were referred to as Dasht-I Qifchaq¸ ‘Qipchaq Steppe’, or Ulus (realm) of Jochi, the ancestor of the Golden Horde khans. . [1]
[1]: Atwood 2004: 201. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
Öz Beg (Uzbek) Khan is considered to be the greatest ruler of the Golden Horde. During his reign the polity reached the height of its power and Islam became the official state religion. The khan’s court was full of scholars, theologians, mathematicians and astronomers. During the reign of his son and successor, Jani Beg Khan, the Black Death hit the Horde. Jani Beg was later assassinated in 1357. As the Golden Horde would not return to its height of power again, the end of Öz Beg’s reign is considered to mark the beginning of the decline and gradual disintegration of the Golden Horde. [1] [2] [3]
[1]: “Golden Horde”. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VXQGWC6R
[2]: Halperin 1987: 27. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[3]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 460. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
People.“The size of the Horde’s population can be approximately calculated by a widely used method: the numerical strength of the army, known from the sources, is multiplied by 4 or 5. It is believed that upon full military mobilisation, some 3/4 or 4/5 of the total population of the nomads—women, children, feeble old men and horseless poor—stayed at home.” [1] Therefore the estimated population of the Golden Horde is around 400,000 – 600,000 inhabitants by the end of this period. [2]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 829. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[2]: Trepavlov 2016: 427. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/PUGWXUCR
levels. Types of settlements varied between regions as the nomadic Horde conquered and settled in regions which had towns and villages. [1] [2] [3] [4] : 1. Capital city (Sarai) :: 2. Major cities (Astrakhan, Ükek, Bulğar) ::: 3. Towns :::: 4. Villages ::::: 5. Hamlets :::::: 6. Nomadic camps
[1]: Halperin 1987: 35, 36, 77, 84. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Atwood 2004: 36. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
[3]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 150. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[4]: Schamiloglu 2018: 19. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4DIB5VCX
levels.With the official conversion to Islam in the fourteenth century came the change of the religious structure in the Golden Horde. [1] There is no official structure or hierarchy in the religion of Islam. Though there are scholars and preachers (imams).
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
levels.“Characteristic of the Jochid Ulus army was the designation of a military service class chosen primarily from among the Horde’s social elite. The Jochids formed its upper crust, followed by ulus begs and darugh begs, then emirs in command of thousands, hundreds, and dozens, to whom the title beg also applied.. Commanders from the Jochi clan were known as oghlans on the army’s right and Left wings… Therefore, most scholars agree that the organizational structure of the military consisted of a rigid hierarchy based on the decimal system, in which tens were the smallest units and a tumen of ten thousand warriors—the largest unit.” [1] : 1. Khan :: 2. ulus begs and darugh begs ::: 3. Emirs :::: 4. Military Governor (Voevoda) ::::: 5. Commander (Noyan) :::::: 6. Soldiers and horsemen.
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 259-260. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
levels. [1] [2] Prior to Islamic conversion : 1. Khan (head of state) :: 2. Family Council (quriltai) :: 2.1. Commander in chief / Deputy to the Khan (beglerbegi) :: 2.2. Vizier ::: 3. Ulus khans (a minor khan within each state, ulus, of the wider empire) :::: 4. Ulus Emirs ::::: 5. Lesser administrative posts. After Islamic conversion With the official conversion to Islam in the fourteenth century came the adoption of the Persian diwan system of governance. [3] _Regions with direct administration_ : 1. Khan :: 2. Central Council ::: 3. Vizier (head of the treasury) :::4. Baskaki (local official, tax collector, supervisor, military commander) (changed to darugi in the fourteenth century) ::::: 5. Lesser administrative posts. _Regions with local administration_ The Golden Horde chose not to have direct administration in Russian or Armenia-Georgia due to the expense, and so allowed local rulers, such as princes, to administer the region. Although they initially had resident Mongol officials (baskaki) in Russia, this was later changed so that envoys (posoly) relayed direct orders from the Khan to the local Russian princes. [4] : 1. Khan :: 2. Posoly (official envoys, important aristocrats) ::: 3. Local nobility (e.g. a foreign prince) :::: 4. Lesser administrative posts.
[1]: Atwood 2004: 205. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
[2]: Halperin 1987: 26, 30-39. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[3]: Halperin 1987: 26, 36-39. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[4]: Halperin 1987: 30-31, 34. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
Prior to Islamisation in the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde’s legal system was Mongol customary law and its nomadic laws were codified. After the conversion to Islam, the Horde followed the Muslim religious laws of Shar’iat. [1]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 93. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
There were markets all across the polity, as they were already established in settlements of their conquered territory, and the Golden Horde then controlled the trade route through Eurasia.
Cities in the Golden Horde territories had running water supplied by aqueducts, water pipes and wells. [1] . [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 652-653. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
Some cities had walled enclosures. [1] In the capital, and possibly other large cities, the merchants questers were surrounded by a wall to protect their goods. [2]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 66. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[2]: Schamiloglu 2018: 23-24. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4DIB5VCX
The Golden Horde used paper records for all administrative documents. Correspondence both internal and foreign, was via a paper trail. To their allies, the Mamluks, they observed the Islamic diplomacy rules whereby all correspondence was “on paper of the correct size, written in the proper scripts with the right pens and inks and special gold letters, and expressed in elaborate formulas that only poets and scholars could fully master.” [1] Chronicles and records were kept by official scholars. [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 27. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Halperin 1987: 34-35. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
The were many scientists and scientific scholars in the golden Horde. There was a disruption of literary works in the Turkic languages following the Black Death. After 1360 there appear to be no literary or religious works written in the Golden Horde language until the fifteenth century in Central Asia. [1]
[1]: Schamiloglu 2017: 337. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YI8W94QB
Conversion to Islam in the fourteenth century introduced the Qu’ran to the Golden Horde.
During the plague year of 1358 an Islamic-Turkic religious work was produced called, The Clear Path to Heaven. [1] However, there seems to have been a disruption of literary works in the Turkic languages following the Black Death. After 1360 there appear to be no literary or religious works written in the Golden Horde language until the fifteenth century in Central Asia. [2] . [1]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 684. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[2]: Schamiloglu 2017: 337. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YI8W94QB
Öz Beg Khan’s son and successor, Jani Beg (Islamic name, Jalal ad-Din Mahmud), was a patron of philosophy he had many philosophical works written by Islamic scholars. [1] There was a disruption of literary works in the Turkic languages following the Black Death. After 1360 there appear to be no literary or religious works written in the Golden Horde language until the fifteenth century in Central Asia. [2]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 460. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[2]: Schamiloglu 2017: 337. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YI8W94QB
There was a disruption of literary works in the Turkic languages following the Black Death. After 1360 there appear to be no literary or religious works written in the Golden Horde language until the fifteenth century in Central Asia. [1]
[1]: Schamiloglu 2017: 337. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YI8W94QB
Mongolian poetry was written on birchbark. [1] Romantic and philosophical poetry was especially popular. [2]
[1]: Atwood 2004: 206. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SJXN6MZD.
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 507, 510. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
Regions which had been conquered by the Mongol forces often had their own coins, such as Russian rubles. [1] However, by 1310 the minting of silver coins from Mokhshi only created a closed system and coins from foreign states were not permitted. [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 76. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 623. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
The sources consulted have not mention credit and debit structures.
The Golden Horde had a postal system (yam) based on that of the Mongol Empire which had been established in 1235. [1] [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 65. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
Messengers and official envoys were used to deliver orders and communication across Golden Horde territory using the post stations. [1] [2]
[1]: Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 65. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
The sources consulted have not mentioned a measurement of volume.
Clocks, among other rare and expensive items, were gifted between the wealthy elite of the east (such as China and India) and the west (such as the Venetians), so they may have passed through the trade routes and possibly been gifted to a khan, but this is not confirmed in the sources. [1] Calendars were also used. [2]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 584. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
[2]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 535. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8
With the Islamisation of the Golden Horde came the geometrical buildings of mosques. Geometrical patterns on items such as belt buckles, drinking cups, decorative bowls, and wall decorations were also used. [1]
[1]: Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 434, 476, 497. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8