Golden Horde history. Brief reign of the golden horde

Mongol-Tatar state, founded in the early 40s. 13th century Khan Batu (1208-1255) - the son of Khan Jochi - in the lower reaches of the Volga River (Ulus Jochi). The capital was the city of Sarai-Batu (in the area of ​​modern Astrakhan). At the beginning of the XIV century. the capital was moved to Saray-Berke (near modern Volgograd). The structure included Western Siberia, Volga Bulgaria (Bulgaria), the North Caucasus, Crimea and other territories.

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GOLDEN HORDE

Ulus Jochi) - feud. state-in, founded in the beginning. 40s 13th c. Khan Batu (1236-1255), son of Khan Jochi, the ulus to-rogo (allocated in 1224) included Khorezm, Sev. Caucasus. As a result of the campaigns of Batu in 1236-40, the regions of the Volga Bulgarians, the Polovtsian steppes (see Desht-i-Kipchak), Crimea, and Zap. Siberia. The power of the Z. O. khans extended to the territory. from lower Danube and Finnish Hall. on W. to bass. Irtysh and lower. Ob in the East, from the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas and Lake. Balkhash in the south to the Novgorod lands in the region of the North. Arctic Ocean in the north. However, the indigenous Rus. the lands were not included in the Z. O., but were in vassal dependence on it, paid tribute and obeyed the orders of the khans in a number of important political. questions. Z. O. existed until the 15th century. In east. sources of state-in naz. Ulus of Jochi, in Russian. annals - Z. O. The center of Z. O. was Nizh. The Volga region, where, under Batu, the city of Sarai-Batu (near modern Astrakhan) became the capital, in the 1st half. 14th c. the capital was moved to Saray-Berke (founded by Khan Berke (1255-1266), near present-day Volgograd). Initially, Z. O. was in a certain subordination to led. mong. Khan, from the time of Batu's brother Khan Berke, she became completely independent. ZO was an art. and unstable state. association. The population of Z. O. was variegated in composition. Volga Bulgarians, Mordovians, Russians, Greeks, Khorezmians, and others lived in settled areas. the bulk of the nomads were Turks. the tribes of the Polovtsy (Kipchaks), Kanglys, Tatars, Turkmens, Kirghiz, etc. The Mongols themselves in the 13th and 1st half. 14th century gradually accepted the Turks. languages. Societies level. and the cultural development of the Z. O. population was also different. The nomadic population was dominated by semi-patriarchal, semi-feudal. relations, in districts with a settled population - a feud. relations. After the conquests, accompanied by monstrous destruction and human. victims, ch. the goal of the Golden Horde rulers was to rob the enslaved population. This was achieved through severe requisitions. The lands that were in vassal dependence on the Z.O. paid tribute, the collection of which was often accompanied by predatory raids. The peasant farmers of the Z. O. (“sabanchi”) paid “kalan”, that is, rent in kind, a tax on cultivated land. plots, collection from vineyards, arts. irrigation - from ditches, paid emergency taxes, as well as fees in favor of officials. In addition, they carried road, bridge, underwater and other duties. There was probably a labor rent, which was performed by the peasant sharecroppers ("urtakchi"). Nomads, as well as farmers who had livestock, paid "kopchur" - a tax on livestock in kind. The burden of taxation was intensified in connection with the spread in the Western Oblast of the tax collection system, which led to mass abuses. Main part of the land and pastures was concentrated in the hands of the Mong. feud. nobility, in favor of a swarm, and the working population bore duties. Craft. The production of Z. O. nomads took the form of domestic crafts. In the cities of ZO there were various crafts with production for the market, but the producers were, as a rule, artisans of the conquered regions. Even in Sarai-Batu and Sarai-Berk, craftsmen were taken out from Khorezm, Sev. Caucasus, Crimea, as well as newcomers Russians, Armenians, Greeks, etc. Many cities in the conquered territories, devastated by the Mongols, were in decline or completely disappeared. Large centers, ch. arr. caravan trade, there were Sarai-Batu, Sarai-Berke, Urgench, the Crimean cities of Sudak, Kafa (Feodosia); Azak (Azov) on the Azov m., etc. At the head of the state were khans from the house of Batu. In particularly important cases, political life, kurultai were convened - congresses of military feuds. nobility led by members of the ruling dynasty. State affairs were led by a beklyare-bek (prince over princes), separate branches ("sofas") - by a vizier and his assistant (naib). Darugs were sent to the cities and regions subordinate to them, ch. duty to-rykh was the collection of taxes, taxes, tributes. Often, along with the darugs, military leaders were appointed - Baskaks. State. the device was worn by the paramilitary. character, because military. and adm. positions are usually not divided. The most important positions were occupied by members of the ruling dynasty, the princes (“oglans”), who owned appanages in the Western Oblast and were at the head of the left and right wing of the troops. From the environment of the runs (noins) and tarkhans came out the main. command cadres of the troops - temniks, thousanders, centurions, as well as bakauls (officials who distributed military maintenance, booty, etc.). The fragile nature of the state. associations Z. O., as well as the development of the feud. relations that have strengthened the position of large feudal lords and created the ground for internecine struggle between them, and especially growth will free. the struggle of conquered and dependent peoples became Ch. the reasons for the weakening, and then the collapse and death of Z. O. Already during its formation, Z. O. was divided into uluses that belonged to 14 sons of Jochi: 13 brothers were semi-independent. sovereigns subordinate to the top. power of Batu. Decentralization tendencies appeared after the death of Khan Mengu-Timur (1266-82), when the feud began. war between the princes of the house of Jochi. Under the khans of Tuda-Mengu (1282-87) and Talabuga (1287-91), the actual. Temnik Nogai became the ruler of the state. Only Khan Tokhta (1291-1312) managed to get rid of Nogai and his supporters. After 5 years, a new turmoil arose. Its termination is associated with the name of Khan Uzbek (1312-42); under him and his successor Khan Dzhanibek (1342-1357) Z. O. reached max. military rise. power. ZO was at that time one of the strongest states in the Middle Ages. There was a centralization of power. The former uluses were turned into regions headed by emirs. The strengthening of the power of the khans was also expressed in the termination of the convocation of kurultai. Military the forces under Uzbek numbered up to 300,000 hours. However, the unrest that began in 1357 with the murder of Dzhanibek testified to the beginning of its collapse. From 1357 to 1380, more than 25 khans were on the throne of the Golden Horde. Troubles in ZO reached the stage when it more and more often ceased to be a state from the center. power. In the 60-70s. actual Temnik Mamai became the ruler with the help of dummy khans, who subjugated the lands west of the Volga, including the Crimea. In the lands east of the Volga, there was a struggle between Genghisids from the house of Batu and the house of his brother Ichen. In the beginning. 60s 14th c. Khorezm fell away from Z. O., where the state of the Sufis was formed; Poland and Lithuania seized lands in the bass. R. Dnieper, separated Astrakhan. Mamai had, in addition, to face the increased alliance of Russian. kn-in, headed by Moscow, the dependence of which on Z. O. became formal (cessation of payment of tribute). Mamai's attempt to weaken Russia again by organizing a huge predatory campaign led to the defeat of the Tatars by the united Russians. troops in the Battle of Kulikovo 1380. In the 80-90s. 14th c. general political the situation temporarily developed in favor of Z. O. Under Khan Tokhtamysh (1380-95), unrest ceased, and the center. power began to control the main. territory Z. O. Tokhtamysh in 1380 defeated the army of Mamai on the river. Kalke, in 1382 went to Moscow, captured him by deceit and burned him. But this was only a temporary success. After strengthening his power, he opposed Timur (Tamerlane) and made a number of campaigns against Maverannahr, Azerbaijan, and Iran. But in the end, the row will devastate. campaigns (1389, 1391, 1395-96) Timur defeated the troops of Tokhtamysh, captured and destroyed the Volga cities, including Saray-Berke, robbed the cities of Crimea, etc. Z. O. was struck, from which she was already couldn't recover. The last attempt to revive the power of Z.O. is associated with the name of Edigei, who for a short time managed, relying on dummy khans, to subjugate most of the Z.O. leading to the complete collapse of Z. O. In the beginning. 20s 15th c. the Siberian Khanate was formed, in the 40s. - Nogai Horde, then the Kazan Khanate (1438) and the Crimean Khanate (1443), and in the 60s. - Kazakh, Uzbek and Astrakhan khanates. In the 15th century significantly weakened the dependence of Russia on Z. O. In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, who was for some time the successor of Z. O., tried to achieve obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended unsuccessfully. In 1480 Russian. the people finally freed themselves from the Tat.-Mong. yoke. The Great Horde ceased to exist at the beginning. 16th century Lit .: Tizenhausen V., Collection of materials related to the history of the Golden Horde, v. 1, St. Petersburg, 1884; Nasonov A. N., Mongols and Russia, M.-L., 1940; Grekov B. D. and Yakubovsky A. Yu., Golden Horde and its fall, M.-L., 1950; Safargaliev M. G., The collapse of the Golden Horde, Saransk, 1960; Merpert N. Ya. (and others), Genghis Khan and his legacy, "ISSSR", 1962, No 5. V. I. Buganov. Moscow. -***-***-***- Golden Horde in the second half of the 13th century.

Ulus Jochi, self-name Great State in the Russian tradition - Golden Horde - a medieval state in Eurasia.
In the period from 1224 to 1266, it was part of the Mongol Empire. In 1266, under Khan Mengu-Timur, it gained complete independence, retaining only a formal dependence on the imperial center. Since 1312, Islam has become the state religion. By the middle of the 15th century, the Golden Horde broke up into several independent khanates. Its central part, which nominally continued to be considered supreme - the Great Horde, ceased to exist at the beginning of the 16th century.
Story
The division of the Mongol Empire by Genghis Khan between his sons, carried out by 1224, can be considered the emergence of the Ulus of Jochi. After the Western campaign led by the son of Jochi Batu (in the Russian chronicles Batu), the ulus expanded to the west and the Lower Volga region became its center. In 1251, a kurultai took place in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum, where Mongke, the son of Tolui, was proclaimed great khan. Batu, "the eldest of the family", supported Mongke, probably hoping to get 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 among Mongke, Batu and other Chingizids who recognized their authority.
Rise of the Golden Horde. After the death of Batu, his son Sartak, who was at that time in Mongolia, was to become the legitimate heir. But on the way home, the new Khan suddenly died. Soon the young son of Batu Ulagchi, proclaimed khan, also died.
Berke, 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 lead to the Islamization of large sections of the nomadic population. This step allowed the ruler to get the support of influential trading circles of the urban centers of the Volga Bulgaria and Central Asia, to attract educated Muslims to the service. During his reign, urban planning reached a significant scale, the Horde cities were built up with mosques, minarets, madrasahs, caravanserais. First of all, this refers to Sarai-Bat, the capital of the state, which at that time became known as Sarai-Berke. Berke invited scholars, theologians, poets from Iran and Egypt, and artisans and merchants from Khorezm. Trade and diplomatic relations with the countries of the East have noticeably revived. Highly educated immigrants from Iran and Arab countries began to be appointed to responsible government posts, which caused discontent among the Mongolian and Kypchak nomadic nobility. However, this dissatisfaction has not yet been expressed openly. During the reign of Mengu-Timur Ulus Jochi became completely independent from the central government. In 1269, at a kurultai in the valley of the Talas River, Munke-Timur and his relatives Borak and Kaidu, the rulers of the Chagatai ulus, recognized each other as independent sovereigns and entered into an alliance against the great Khan Khubilai in case he tried to challenge their independence.
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 under Batu and Berk, the second most important in the state. His personal ulus was in the west of the Golden Horde. Nogai set as his goal the formation of his own state, and during the reign of Tuda-Mengu and Tula-Buga, he managed to subjugate a vast territory along the Danube, Dniester, Uzeu (Dnieper) to his power.
Tokhta was placed on the throne of the barn. 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. During the reign of Khan Uzbek and his son Dzhanibek, the Golden Horde reached its peak. Uzbek declared Islam the state religion, threatening "infidels" with physical violence. The rebellions of the emirs who did not want to convert to Islam were brutally suppressed. The time of his khanate was distinguished by severe punishment. Russian princes, going to the capital of the Golden Horde, wrote spiritual testaments and paternal instructions to children, in case of their death there. Several of them, in fact, were killed. Uzbek built the city of Saray al-Jedid, paid much attention to the development of caravan trade. Trade routes have become not only safe, but also well-maintained. The Horde traded with the countries of Western Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt, India, and China. After Uzbek, his son Dzhanibek, whom the Russian chronicles call "good", ascended the throne of the khanate. From 1359 to 1380, more than 25 khans changed on the throne of the Golden Horde, and many uluses tried to become independent. This time in Russian sources was called the "Great Zamyatnya".

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, the temnik Mamai. As a result, Mamai, who was the grandson of Isatay, an influential emir from the time of Khan Uzbek, created an independent ulus in the western part of the Horde, up to the right bank of the Volga. Not being Genghisides, Mamai did not have the right to the title of khan, therefore 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 Saray. They did not really succeed, 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 a strong khan's power.
Trouble in the Golden Horde ended after Genghisid Tokhtamysh, with the support of Emir Tamerlane from Maverannahr in 1377-1380, first captured the uluses on the Syr Darya, defeating the sons of Urus Khan, and then the throne in Saray, when Mamai came into direct conflict with the Moscow principality. Tokhtamysh in 1380 defeated the remnants of the troops gathered by Mamai after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo on the Kalka River.
The collapse of the Golden Horde. In the sixties of the XIII century, important political changes took place in the life of the former empire of Genghis Khan, which could not but affect the nature of the Horde-Russian relations. The accelerated disintegration of the empire began. The rulers of Karakoram moved to Beijing, the uluses of the empire acquired de facto independence, independence from the great khans, and now rivalry between them intensified, sharp territorial disputes arose, and a struggle for spheres of influence began. In the 60s, the Jochi ulus was drawn into a protracted conflict with the Hulagu ulus, which owned the territory of Iran. It would seem that the Golden Horde has reached the apogee of its power. But here and within it began the inevitable process of disintegration for early feudalism. Began in the Horde "splitting" state structure, and immediately a conflict arose within the ruling elite. In the early 1420s, the Siberian Khanate was formed, the Uzbek Khanate in 1428, the Nogai Horde in the 1440s, then the Kazan and Crimean Khanates and the Kazakh Khanate arose in 1465. After the death of Khan Kichi-Mohammed, the Golden Horde ceased to exist as a single state. The main among the Jochid states formally continued to be considered the Great Horde. In 1480, Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, tried to achieve obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended unsuccessfully, and Russia was finally freed from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. At the beginning of 1481, Akhmat was killed during an attack on his headquarters by the Siberian and Nogai cavalry. Under his children, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Great Horde ceased to exist.
Golden Horde: myths and reality
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongol tribes, united under the rule of Genghis Khan, began campaigns of conquest, the purpose of which was to create a huge superpower. Already in the 2nd half of the XIII century, the space from the Pacific Ocean to the Danube was under the control of the Chingizids. Immediately after its appearance, the gigantic empire was divided into separate parts, the largest of which was the ulus of the descendants of Jochi (the eldest son of Genghis Khan), which included Western Siberia, part of Central Asia, the Urals, the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the North Caucasus, Crimea, the lands of the Polovtsy and other Turkic nomadic peoples. The western part of the Dzhuchiev ulus became the yurt of Dzhuchi's son Batu and received the name "Golden Horde" or simply "Horde" in Russian chronicles.
The beginning of the political history of the Golden Horde dates back to 1243, when Batu returned from a campaign in Europe. In the same year, Grand Duke Yaroslav was the first of the Russian rulers to arrive at the headquarters of the Mongol Khan for a label to reign. The Golden Horde was one of the largest states of the Middle Ages. Its military power for a long time had no equal. Friendship with the Horde was sought by the rulers of even distant countries. The most important trade routes connecting East and West passed through the territories of the Horde.

Stretching from the Irtysh to the Danube, the Golden Horde, from an ethnic point of view, represented a motley mixture of various peoples - Mongols, Volga Bulgars, Russians, Burtases, Bashkirs, Mordovians, Yases, Circassians, Georgians, etc. But the bulk of the population of the Horde were Polovtsy, among which already in the XIV century the conquerors began to dissolve, forgetting their culture, language, writing. The multinational nature of the Horde was inherited by it along with the conquered territories that previously belonged to the states of the Sarmatians, Goths, Khazaria, Volga Bulgaria.
One of the stereotypical ideas about the Golden Horde is that this state was purely nomadic and had almost no cities. This stereotype transfers the situation from the time of Genghis Khan to the entire history of the Golden Horde. Already the successors of Genghis Khan clearly understood that "it is impossible to rule the Celestial Empire while sitting on a horse." More than a hundred cities were created in the Golden Horde, which served as administrative-tax and trade and craft centers. The capital of the state - the city of Sarai - numbered 75 thousand inhabitants. By medieval standards, it was a huge city. The vast majority of the Golden Horde cities were destroyed by Timur at the end of the XIV century, but some have survived to this day - Azov, Kazan, Stary Krym, Tyumen, etc. Cities and villages were built on the Golden Horde territory. the predominance of the Russian population - Yelets, Tula, Kaluga. These were residences and strongholds of the Basques. Thanks to the union of cities with the steppe, crafts and caravan trade developed, economic potential was created, which for a long time contributed to the preservation of the power of the Horde.
Cultural life of the Horde characterized by multi-ethnicity, as well as the interaction of nomadic and sedentary ways. In the initial period of the Golden Horde, culture developed largely due to the consumption of the achievements of the conquered peoples. This does not mean, however, that the Mongol substratum of the Golden Horde culture did not have independent significance and influence on the conquered tribes. The Mongols had a complex and very peculiar ritual system. In contrast to the situation in neighboring Muslim countries, the role of women in the social life of the Horde was quite high. Very characteristic of the Mongols was an extremely calm attitude towards any religions. Tolerance led to the fact that quite often, even in the same family, adherents of various confessions coexisted peacefully. Traditional folk culture developed - especially rich and vivid folklore of a heroic-epic and song character, as well as ornamental and applied art. The most important cultural feature of the Mongols-nomads was the presence of their own written language.
City building accompanied by the development of architecture and house-building technology. After the adoption of Islam as the state religion in the 14th century, mosques, minarets, madrasahs, mausoleums, monumental palaces began to be intensively built. In different regions of the Golden Horde, zones of concrete influence of various urban planning traditions - Bulgarian, Khorezm, Crimean - were quite clearly distinguished. Gradually, various elements of a multi-ethnic culture united into one whole, grew into a synthesis, into an organic combination of various features of the spiritual and material culture of different peoples inhabiting the Golden Horde. Unlike Iran and China, where the Mongolian culture quickly and easily dissolved without noticeable traces, the cultural achievements of different peoples merged into one stream in the Golden Horde.
One of the most controversial in Russian historiography is the question of the relationship between Russia and the Horde. In 1237-1240, the Russian lands, divided in military and political terms, were defeated and devastated by the troops of Batu. The attacks of the Mongols on Ryazan, Vladimir, Rostov, Suzdal, Galich, Tver, Kyiv left the Russian people with the impression of shock. After the Batu invasion in the Vladimir-Suzdal, Ryazan, Chernigov, Kiev lands, more than two-thirds of all settlements were destroyed. Both urban and rural residents were massively cut out. It is hard to doubt that the aggression of the Mongols brought cruel misfortunes to the Russian people. But there were other assessments in historiography. The Mongol invasion inflicted a severe wound on the Russian people. During the first ten years after the invasion, the conquerors did not take tribute, being engaged only in robbery and destruction. But such a practice meant voluntarily giving up long-term benefits. When the Mongols realized this, the collection of a systematic tribute began, which became a constant source of replenishment of the Mongolian treasury. Russia's relations with the Horde have taken predictable and stable forms - a phenomenon is being born, called the "Mongol yoke". At the same time, however, the practice of periodic punitive campaigns did not stop until the 14th century. According to V.V. Kargalov, in the last quarter of the 13th century. The Horde conducted at least 15 major campaigns. Many Russian princes were subjected to terror and intimidation in order to prevent anti-Horde actions on their part.
Russian Horderelations were not easy, but to reduce them only to total pressure on Russia would be a delusion. Even S. M. Solovyov clearly and unequivocally “divorced” the period of devastation of Russian lands by the Mongols and the period following it, when they, living far away, cared only about collecting tribute. With a general negative assessment of the "yoke", the Soviet historian A. K. Leontiev emphasized that Russia retained its statehood, was not directly included in the Golden Horde. A. L. Yurganov assesses the negative influence of the Mongols on Russian history, but he also admits that although “the disobedient were humiliatingly punished ... those princes who willingly submitted to the Mongols, as a rule, found a common language with them and even more stayed in the Horde for a long time. The peculiarity of Russian-Horde relations becomes clear only in the context of that historical era. In the middle of the 13th century, decentralized Russia was subjected to double aggression - from the East and from the West. At the same time, Western aggression brought misfortunes no less: it was prepared and financed by the Vatican, which laid in it a charge of Catholic fanaticism. In 1204, the crusaders sacked Constantinople, then turned their eyes to the Baltic states and Russia. Their pressure was no less cruel than that of the Mongols: the German knights completely destroyed the Sorbs, Prussians, and Livs. In 1224. they slaughtered the Russian population of the city of Yuriev, making it clear what would await the Russians in the event of a successful advance of the Germans to the east. The goal of the Crusaders - the defeat of Orthodoxy - affected the vital interests of the Slavs and many Finns. The Mongols, on the other hand, were religiously tolerant, they could not seriously threaten the spiritual culture of the Russians. And with regard to territorial conquests, the Mongol campaigns differed markedly from the western expansion: after the initial blow to Russia, the Mongols retreated back to the steppe, and they did not reach Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk at all. The Catholic offensive went along the entire front: Poland and Hungary rushed to Galicia and Volyn, the Germans - to Pskov and Novgorod, the Swedes landed on the banks of the Neva.
State structure in the Golden Horde
During the first century of its existence Golden Horde was one of the uluses Great Mongol Empire. The descendants of Genghis Khan ruled the Golden Horde even after the fall of the empire, and when the Horde collapsed, they owned the states that came to replace it. The Mongolian aristocracy was the highest stratum of society in the Golden Horde. Therefore, the rule in the Golden Horde was based mainly on the principles that guided the government of the empire as a whole. The Mongols were a national minority in the Golden Horde society. Most of the population in the Horde were Turks.

From a religious point of view, the spread of Islam among both the Mongols and the Turks in the Horde became a factor of great importance. Gradually, Muslim institutions established themselves along with the Mongolian ones. Most of the Mongols of the Golden Horde came from that four thousandth army, which was transferred by Jochi Genghis Khan; they belonged to the tribes Khushin, Kyiyat, Kynkyt and Saidzhut. In addition, there were also the Mangkyts, but they, as we know, kept aloof from the rest and, from the time of Nogai, constituted a separate horde. As already mentioned, the Turks were recognized as full members of the steppe society. In the western part of the Golden Horde, the Turkic element was represented mainly by the Kipchaks (Polovtsy), as well as the remnant of the Khazars and Pechenegs. To the east of the middle reaches of the Volga, in the basin of the Kama River, lived the remaining Bulgars and semi-Turkicized Ugrians. East of the lower Volga, the Mangkyts and other Mongol clans ruled over a number of Turkic tribes such as the Kipchaks and Oghuz, most of whom mixed with the Iranian natives. The numerical superiority of the Turks made it natural that the Mongols should gradually become Turkicized, and the Mongolian language, even within the ruling classes, should give way to the Turkic. Diplomatic correspondence with foreign countries was conducted in Mongolian, but most of the documents of the late 14th and 15th centuries concerning internal government that we know are in Turkic.
From an economic point of view, the Golden Horde was a symbiosis of nomadic and sedentary population. The South Russian and North Caucasian steppes provided the Mongols and Turks with vast pastures for herds and cattle. On the other hand, some parts of this territory on the periphery of the steppes were also used for growing cereals. The country of the Bulgars in the region of the middle Volga and Kama was also agricultural with highly developed agriculture; and, of course, Western Russia and the southern principalities of Central and Eastern Russia, especially Ryazan, produced grain in abundance. Saray and other large cities of the Golden Horde with their highly developed crafts served as crossing points between nomadism and settled civilization. Both the khan and the princes lived in the cities for part of the year, and followed their herds during the other part of the year. Most of them also owned land. A significant part of the urban population lived there permanently, so that an urban class was created, consisting of a variety of ethnic, social and religious elements. Both Muslims and Christians had their own temples in every major city. Cities played a role of paramount importance in the development of the Golden Horde trade. The complex economic organism of the Horde was oriented towards international trade, and it was from it that the khans and nobles received a large share of their income.
Organization of the army in the Golden Horde was built mainly according to the Mongolian type established by Genghis Khan, with decimal division. Army units were grouped into two main battle formations: the right wing, or western group, and the left wing, or eastern group. The center, in all likelihood, was the Khan's guard under his personal command. Each large army unit was assigned a bukaul. As in other parts of the Mongol Empire, the army formed the basis of the khan's administration, each army unit was subordinated to a separate region in the Horde. From this point of view, we can say that for administrative purposes the Golden Horde was divided into myriads, thousands, hundreds and tens. The commander of each unit was responsible for order and discipline in his area. All together, they represented the local government in the Golden Horde.

The label on the immunity of Khan Timur-Kutlug dated 800 AH, issued to the Crimean Tarkhan Mehmet, was addressed to “oglans of the right and left wings; venerable commanders of myriads; and commanders of thousands, hundreds and tens. A number of civilian officials assisted in the collection of taxes and other purposes of the military administration. Timur-Kutlug's label mentions tax collectors, messengers, horse post station attendants, boatmen, bridge officials, and market police. An important official was the state customs inspector, who was called daruga. The main meaning of the root of this Mongolian word is "press" in the sense of "stamp" or "stamp". The duties of the daruga included monitoring the collection of taxes and accounting for the amount collected. The entire system of administration and taxation was controlled by the central boards. In each of them, in fact, the secretary was in charge. The chief bitikchi was in charge of the khan's archive. Sometimes the khan entrusted the general supervision of the internal administration to a special official, whom Arab and Persian sources, speaking of the Golden Horde, call the "vizier". It is unknown if this was actually his title. Such officials at the Khan's court as stewards, butlers, falconers, keepers of wild animals, huntsmen also played important roles.
The judiciary consisted of the Supreme Court and local courts. The competence of the first included the most important cases affecting the state interests. It should be remembered that a number of Russian princes appeared before this court. Judges of local courts were called yarguchi. According to Ibn-Batuta, each court consisted of eight such judges, presided over by the chief. He was appointed by a special yarlyk of the khan. In the 14th century, a Muslim judge, along with lawyers and clerks, also attended the meetings of the local court. All matters falling under Islamic law were referred to him. In view of the fact that trade played an important role in the economy of the Golden Horde, it was quite natural that merchants, especially those who had access to foreign markets, were highly respected by the khan and nobles. Although not officially associated with the government, eminent merchants could quite often influence the direction of internal affairs and external relations. In fact, Muslim merchants were an international corporation that controlled the markets of Central Asia, Iran and South Russia. Individually, they took an oath of allegiance to one or another ruler, depending on the circumstances. Collectively, they preferred peace and stability in all countries with which they had to deal. Many of the khans were financially dependent on the merchants, since they handled large capital and were able to lend money to any khan whose treasury was depleted. Merchants also readily collected taxes when required of them, and were useful to the khan in many other ways.
The bulk of the urban population were artisans and a wide variety of workers. In the early period of the formation of the Golden Horde, gifted artisans captured in conquered countries became slaves of the khan. Some of them were sent to the great khan in Karakorum. The majority, obliged to serve the Khan of the Golden Horde, settled in Sarai and other cities. Basically, they were natives of Khorezm and Russia. Later, free workers also, apparently, began to flock to the craft centers of the Golden Horde, mainly to Saray. In the label of Tokhtamysh dated 1382, issued to Khodja-Bek, “elders of artisans” are mentioned. From this we can conclude that the handicraftsmen were organized in guilds, most likely, each craft formed a separate guild. One craft was assigned a special part of the city for workshops. According to archaeological evidence, there were forges, knife and weapon workshops, factories for the production of agricultural tools, as well as bronze and copper vessels in Saray.

GOLD `HORD`(Altyn Urda) a state in northeastern Eurasia (1269–1502). In Tatar sources - Olug Ulus (Great Power) or Ulus Jochi named after the ancestor of the Jochi dynasty, in Arabic - Desht-i-Kipchak, in Russian - the Horde, the Kingdom of the Tatars, in Latin - Tartaria.

The Golden Horde was formed in 1207-1208 on the basis of the Jochi Ulus - the lands allocated by Genghis Khan to the son of Jochi in the Irtysh region and Sayano-Altai. After the death of Jochi (1227), by the decision of the all-Mongol kurultai (1229 and 1235), Khan Batu (son of Jochi) was proclaimed the ruler of the ulus. During the Mongol wars, by 1243, the Ulus of Jochi included the territories of Desht-i-Kipchak, Desht-i-Khazar, Volga Bulgaria, as well as Kyiv, Chernigov, Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Galicia-Volyn principalities. By the middle of the XIII century, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Serbia were dependent on the khans of the Golden Horde.

Batu divided the Golden Horde into Ak Orda and Kok Orda, which were divided into left and right wings. They were divided into uluses, tumens (10 thousand), thousands, hundreds and tens. The territory of the Golden Horde was connected by a single transport system - the pit service, which consisted of pits (stations). Batu appointed his elder brother Ordu-ijen as the ruler of the Kok Horde, their other brothers and sons (Berke, Nogai, Tuka (Tukai)-Timur, Shiban) and representatives of the aristocracy received smaller possessions (destinies - il) within these uluses as suyurgals. The uluses were headed by ulus emirs (ulusbeks), at the head of smaller destinies - tumenbashi, minbashi, yozbashi, unbashi. They carried out legal proceedings, organized the collection of taxes, recruited troops and commanded them.

In the late 1250s, the rulers achieved a certain independence from the great kagan of the Mongol Empire, which was reflected in the appearance of the tamga of the Jochi family on the coins of Khan Berke. Khan Mengu-Timur managed to achieve complete independence, as evidenced by the minting of coins with the name of the khan and the kurultai of the khans of the uluses of Jochi, Chagatai and Ogedei in 1269, which demarcated their possessions and legitimized the collapse of the Mongol Empire. At the end of the 13th century, 2 political centers were formed in Ak Orda: Beklyaribek Nogai ruled in the Northern Black Sea region, Khan Tokta ruled in the Volga region. The confrontation between these centers ended at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries with the victory of Tokta over Nogay. The supreme power in the Golden Horde belonged to the Jochids: until 1360, the khans were the descendants of Batu, then - Tuka-Timur (with interruptions, until 1502) and the Shibanids on the territory of the Kok Horde and Central Asia. Since 1313, only Muslim Jochids could be khans of the Golden Horde. Formally, the khans were sovereign monarchs, their name was mentioned in Friday and holiday prayers (khutba), they sealed the laws with their seal. The executive body of power was the divan, which consisted of representatives of the highest nobility of the four ruling families - Shirin, Baryn, Argyn, Kipchak. The head of the divan was the vizier - olug karachibek, he led the fiscal system in the country, was in charge of legal proceedings, internal and foreign affairs, and was the commander-in-chief of the country's troops. At the kurultai (congress), the most important state issues were resolved by representatives of 70 noble emirs.

The highest stratum of the aristocracy consisted of karachibeks and ulusbeks, the sons and closest relatives of the khan - oglans, sultans, then - emirs and beks; military class (chivalry) - Bahadurs (batyrs) and Cossacks. On the ground, taxes were collected by officials - darugabeks. The main population consisted of a tax-paying estate - kara halyk, who paid taxes to the state or feudal lord: yasak (main tax), various types of land and income taxes, duties, as well as various duties, such as supplying provisions to the troops and authorities (barn is small), yamskaya (ilchi-kunak). There were also a number of taxes on Muslims in favor of the clergy - gosher and zakat, as well as tribute and taxes on the conquered peoples and the non-Muslim population of the Golden Horde (jizya).

The army of the Golden Horde consisted of personal detachments of the Khan and the nobility, military formations and militias of various uluses and cities, as well as allied troops (up to 250 thousand people in total). The nobility made up the cadres of military leaders and professional soldiers - heavily armed cavalrymen (up to 50 thousand people). The infantry played a supporting role in the battle. Firearms were used in the defense of the fortifications. The basis of field combat tactics was the massive use of heavily armed cavalry. Her attacks alternated with the actions of horse archers, who hit the enemy from a distance. Strategic and operational maneuvers, envelopment, flank strikes and ambushes were used. The warriors were unpretentious, the army was distinguished by maneuverability, speed and could make long transitions without losing combat capability.

Major battles:

• the battle near the city of Pereyaslavl of Emir Nevryuy with Vladimir Prince Andrei Yaroslavich (1252);
• the capture of the city of Sandomierz by the troops of Bahadur Burundai (1259);
• the battle of Berke on the Terek River with the troops of the Ilkhan ruler of Iran Hulagu (1263);
• the battle of Tokta on the river Kukanlyk with Nogay (1300);
• the capture of the city of Tabriz by the troops of Khan Janibek (1358);
• the siege of the city of Bolgar by the troops of Beklyaribek Mamai and Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy (1376);
• Battle of Kulikovo (1380);
• the capture of Moscow by Khan Toktamysh, beklyaribek Idegey (1382, 1408);
• the battle of Khan Toktamysh with Timur on the Kondurcha River (1391);
• the battle of Khan Toktamysh with Timur on the Terek River (1395);
• the battle of Idegeya with Toktamysh and the Lithuanian prince Vitovt on the Vorskla River (1399);
• Battle of Ulug-Muhammad Khan.

There were more than 30 large cities on the territory of the Golden Horde (including the Middle Volga region - Bolgar, Dzhuketau, Iski-Kazan, Kazan, Kashan, Mukhsha). Over 150 cities and towns were centers of administrative power, crafts, trade, and religious life. The cities were managed by emirs and khakims. The cities were centers of highly developed crafts (iron-making, weapons, leather, woodworking), glass-making, pottery, jewelry production and trade with the countries of Europe, the Near and Middle East flourished. Transit trade with Western Europe in silk, spices from China and India was developed. Bread, furs, leather goods, captives, and cattle were exported from the Golden Horde. Luxury goods, expensive weapons, fabrics, and spices were imported. In many cities there were large trade and craft communities of Jews, Armenians (for example, the Armenian colony in Bolgar), Greeks and Italians. The Italian city-republics had their trading colonies in the Northern Black Sea region (Genoese in Cafe, Sudak, Venetian in Azak).

The capital of the Golden Horde until the 1st third of the 14th century was Saray al-Mahrusa, built under Khan Batu. Inside the Golden Horde settlements, archaeologists have discovered entire handicraft quarters. From the 1st third of the 14th century, Sarai al-Jadid, built under Khan Uzbek, became the capital of the Golden Horde. The main occupation of the population was agriculture, gardening and stall breeding, beekeeping, and fishing. The population supplied food not only to themselves, but also supplied it for export.

The main territory of the Golden Horde is the steppes. The steppe population continued to lead a semi-nomadic life, engaged in cattle breeding (sheep and horse breeding).

For the peoples of the Golden Horde, the official and spoken language was the Turkic language. Later, on its basis, the Turkic literary language was formed - the Volga Turki. It created works of old Tatar literature: “Kitabe Gulistan bit-Turks” by Saif Sarai, “Muhabbat-name” by Khorezmi, “Khosrov va Shirin” by Kutba, “Nahj al-faradis” by Mahmud al-Sarai al-Bulgari. As a literary language, the Volga Turki functioned among the Tatars of Eastern Europe until the middle of the 19th century. Initially, office work and diplomatic correspondence in the Golden Horde were carried out in the Mongolian language, which was supplanted by Turkic in the 2nd half of the 14th century. Arabic (the language of religion, Muslim philosophy and jurisprudence) and Persian (the language of high poetry) were also widespread in the cities.

Initially, the khans of the Golden Horde professed Tengrism and Nestorianism, and among the Turkic-Mongolian aristocracy there were also Muslims and Buddhists. The first khan to convert to Islam was Berke. Then the new religion began to actively spread among the urban population. By that time, the population in the Bulgar principalities already professed Islam.

With the adoption of Islam, there was a consolidation of the aristocracy and the formation of a new ethno-political community - the Tatars, which united the Muslimized nobility. It belonged to the Jochid clan-clan system, was united by the socially prestigious ethnonym "Tatars". By the end of the XIV century, it was widely spread among the population of the whole country. After the collapse of the Golden Horde (1st half of the 15th century), the term "Tatars" denoted the military-service Turkic-Muslim aristocracy.

Islam in the Golden Horde became the state religion in 1313. The head of the clergy could only be a person from the family of Sayyids (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad from his daughter Fatima and Caliph Ali). The Muslim clergy consisted of muftis, muhtasibs, qadis, sheikhs, sheikh-masheikhs (sheikhs over sheikhs), mullahs, imams, hafiz, who carried out worship and legal proceedings in civil cases throughout the country. Schools (mektebs and madrasahs) were also under the jurisdiction of the clergy. In total, more than 10 remains of mosques and minarets are known on the territory of the Golden Horde (including in the Bolgar and Yelabuga settlements), as well as madrasahs, hospitals and khanakas (abodes) attached to them. An important role in the spread of Islam in the Volga region was played by Sufi tarikats (orders) (for example, Kubraviya, Yasaviya), which had their own mosques and khanaka. The state policy in the field of religion in the Golden Horde was based on the principle of religious tolerance. Numerous letters of khans to the Russian patriarchs on the release of all types of taxes and taxes have been preserved. Relations were also built with Armenian Christians, Catholics and Jews.

The Golden Horde was a country of developed culture. Thanks to an extensive system of mektebs and madrasahs, the population of the country was taught to read and write and the canons of Islam. At the madrasah there were rich libraries and schools of calligraphers, copyists of books. Objects with inscriptions and epitaphs testify to the literacy and culture of the population. There was an official historiography, preserved in the writings of "Chingiz-name", "Jami at-tavarih" by Rashidaddin, in the genealogies of rulers and folklore tradition. Construction and architecture reached a high level, including white-stone and brick construction, stone carving.

In 1243, the Horde army undertook a campaign against the Galicia-Volyn principality, after which Prince Daniel Romanovich recognized himself as a vassal of Batu. Nogai's campaigns (1275, 1277, 1280, 1286, 1287) aimed to impose tribute and military indemnity on the Balkan countries and Poland. Nogai's campaign against Byzantium ended with the siege of Constantinople, the ruin of Bulgaria and its inclusion in the sphere of influence of the Golden Horde (1269). The war that broke out in 1262 in Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia continued intermittently until the 1390s. The heyday of the Golden Horde fell on the reign of the khans Uzbek and Dzhanibek. Islam was proclaimed the official religion (1313). During this period, on the crest of economic growth, a unified system of empire management, a huge army, and borders were stabilized.

In the middle of the 14th century, after a 20-year internecine war (“Great Zamyatnia”), natural disasters (drought, flooding of the Lower Volga region with the waters of the Caspian Sea), plague epidemics began the disintegration of a single state. In 1380, Toktamysh conquered the Khan's throne, defeated Mamai. The defeats of Toktamysh in the wars with Timur (1388–89, 1391, 1395) led to ruin. The reign of Idegei was marked by successes (the defeat of the troops of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt and Toktamysh on the Vorskla River in 1399, the campaign against Maverannahr in 1405, the siege of Moscow in 1408). After the death of Idegei in the battle with the sons of Toktamysh (1419), the unified empire collapsed, and Tatar states arose on the territory of the Golden Horde: the Siberian Khanate (1420), the Crimean Khanate (1428), the Kazan Khanate (1438). The last fragment of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga region was the Great Horde, which collapsed in 1502 as a result of the defeat of the descendants of Khan Akhmad by the troops of the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray.

The Golden Horde played a big role in the formation of the Tatar nation, as well as in the development of the Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Nogais, Uzbeks (Turks of Maverannahr). The Golden Horde traditions played a huge role in the formation of Muscovite Rus, especially in the organization of state power, the system of government and military affairs.

Khans of Ulus Jochi and the Golden Horde:

• Jochi (1208-1227)
• Batu (1227-1256)
• Sartak (1256)
• Ulakchi (1256)
• Berke (1256–1266)
• Mengu-Timur (1266-1282)
• Tuda Mengu (1282–1287)
• Tula-Buga (1287–1291)
• Tokta (1291–1313)
• Uzbek (1313–1342)
• Tinibeck (1342)
• Janibek (1342–1357)
• Berdibek (1357-1339).

Khans of the period of the "Great Memory".

The Golden Horde, or the ulus of Jochi, is one of the largest states that has ever existed on the territory of present-day Russia. It was also partially located on the territories of modern Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It existed for more than two centuries (1266-1481; other dates of its emergence and fall are also accepted).

The "Golden" Horde was not called at that time

The term "Golden Horde" in relation to the Khanate, which turned out to be ancient Russia, was invented retroactively, by Moscow scribes of the 16th century, when this Horde no longer existed. This is a term of the same order as "Byzantium". Contemporaries called the Horde, to which Russia paid tribute, simply the Horde, sometimes the Great Horde.

Russia was not part of the Golden Horde

Russian lands were not directly included in the Golden Horde. The khans limited themselves to recognizing the vassal dependence of the Russian princes on them. At first, attempts were made to collect tribute from Russia with the help of khan administrators - Baskaks, but already in the middle of the 13th century, the Horde khans abandoned this practice, making the Russian princes themselves responsible for collecting tribute. Among them, they singled out one or more, who were given a label for a great reign.

At that time Vladimirsky was revered as the oldest princely throne in North-Eastern Russia. But along with it, Tver and Ryazan, as well as, at one time, Nizhny Novgorod, acquired the importance of an independent great reign during the period of Horde domination. The Grand Duke of Vladimir was considered the main person responsible for the flow of tribute from all over Russia, and other princes fought for this title. Over time, however, the throne of Vladimir was assigned to the dynasty of Moscow princes, and the struggle for it took place already within it. At the same time, the princes of Tver and Ryazan became responsible for the flow of tribute from their principalities and entered into vassal relations directly to the khan.

The Golden Horde was a multinational state

The book name of the main people of the Horde - "Mongol-Tatars" or "Tatar-Mongols" - invented by German historians in the 19th century, is historical nonsense. Such a people never really existed. At the heart of the impulse that gave rise to the "Mongol-Tatar" invasion lay, apparently, the movement of the peoples of the Mongolian group. But in their movement, these peoples carried away numerous Turkic peoples, and pretty soon the Turkic element became predominant in the Horde. We do not even know the Mongolian names of the khans, starting with Genghis Khan himself, but only the Turkic ones.

At the same time, the peoples known today among the Turks were formed only at that time. So, although, apparently, back in the XIII century, part of the Turks called themselves Tatars, the people of the Volga Tatars began to form only after the separation of the Kazan Khanate from the Golden Horde in the middle of the XV century. The Uzbeks were named after Khan Uzbek, who ruled the Horde in 1313-1341.

Along with the nomadic Turkic population, the Golden Horde had a large settled agricultural population. First of all, these are the Volga Bulgarians. Further, on the Don and the Lower Volga, as well as in the steppe Crimea, lived the descendants of the Khazars and numerous peoples who were part of the long-dead Khazar Khaganate, but in places still retained the urban lifestyle: Alans, Goths, Bulgars, etc. Among them were Russian wanderers who are considered the predecessors of the Cossacks. In the extreme north-west, Mordovians, Maris, Udmurts, and Komi-Permyaks were subordinate to the Horde.

The Golden Horde arose as a result of the division of the empire of the Great Khan

The prerequisites for the independence of the Golden Horde arose under Genghis Khan, when before his death he divided his empire between his sons. The lands of the future Golden Horde were received by his eldest son Jochi. Campaigns against Russia and Western Europe were undertaken by Genghis Khan's grandson Batu (Batu). The division finally took shape in 1266 under Batu's grandson Khan Mengu-Timur. Until that moment, the Golden Horde recognized the nominal dominion of the great khan, and the Russian princes went to bow for a label not only to Sarai on the Volga, but also to the distant Karakorum. After that they limited themselves to a trip to the nearby Saray.

Tolerance in the Golden Horde

During the great conquests, the Turks and Mongols worshiped traditional tribal gods and were tolerant of different religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. Quite important in the Golden Horde, including at the Khan's court, was the "heretical" branch of Christianity - Nestorianism. Later, under Khan Uzbek, the ruling elite of the Horde converted to Islam, however, even after that, freedom of religion was preserved in the Horde. So, until the 16th century, the Sarai diocese of the Russian Church continues to operate, and its bishops even try to baptize one of the members of the khan's family.

civilized way of life

The possession of a large number of cities of the conquered peoples contributed to the spread of urban civilization in the Horde. The capital itself stopped wandering, and settled in one place - in the city of Sarai on the Lower Volga. Its location has not been established, since the city was destroyed during the invasion of Tamerlane at the end of the 14th century. The new Sarai has not reached its former splendor. The houses in it were built of mud brick, which explains its fragility.

Royal power in the Horde was not absolute

The Khan of the Horde, who was called the Tsar in Russia, was not an unlimited ruler. He depended on the advice of the traditional nobility, as the Turks had from time immemorial. Attempts by the khans to strengthen their power led to the “great zamyatna” of the 14th century, when the khans became a toy in the hands of the highest military leaders (temniks) who really fought for power. Mamai, defeated on the Kulikovo field, was not a khan, but a temnik, and only part of the Horde obeyed him. Only with the accession of Tokhtamysh (1381) was the power of the khan restored.

The Golden Horde collapsed

The turmoil of the XIV century did not pass without a trace for the Horde. It began to disintegrate and lose control over the subject territories. During the 15th century, the Siberian, Uzbek, Kazan, Crimean, Kazakh khanates and the Nogai Horde separated from it. Moscow stubbornly holds on to vassalage to the khan of the Great Horde, but in 1480 he dies as a result of an attack by the Crimean khan, and Moscow, willy-nilly, has to become independent.

Kalmyks are not related to the Golden Horde

Contrary to popular belief, the Kalmyks are not the descendants of the Mongols who came with Genghis Khan to the Caspian steppes. Kalmyks moved here from Central Asia only at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries.

As a result of aggressive campaigns, the Mongol empire founded by Genghis Khan formed three of its western uluses, which for some time depended on the great Khan of the Mongols in Karakorum, and then became independent states. The very separation of the three western uluses within the Mongol Empire created by Genghis Khan was already the beginning of its disintegration.
The ulus of Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, included Semirechye and Maverannahr in Central Asia. The ulus of Hulagu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, became the lands of modern Turkmenistan, Iran, Transcaucasia and the Middle Eastern lands up to the Euphrates. The separation of the Khulagu ulus into an independent state took place in 1265.
The largest western ulus of the Mongols was the ulus of the descendants of Jochi (the eldest son of Genghis Khan), which included Western Siberia (from the Irtysh), Northern Khorezm in Central Asia, the Urals, the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the North Caucasus, Crimea, the lands of the Polovtsy and other Turkic nomadic peoples in the steppe spaces from the Irtysh to the mouth of the Danube. The eastern part of the Jochi ulus (Western Siberia) became the yurt (destiny) of the eldest son of Jochi - Horde-Ichen - and later received the name of the Blue Horde. The western part of the ulus became the yurt of his second son, Batu, known in Russian annals as the Golden Horde or simply the Horde.
The main territory of these states was the countries conquered by the Mongols, where there were favorable natural conditions for nomadic pastoralism (lands in Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the Northern Black Sea region), which led to their long-term economic and cultural stagnation, to the replacement of a developed agricultural economy by nomadic pastoralism, and together with and to a return to more archaic forms of the socio-political and state system.

Socio-political system of the Golden Horde

The Golden Horde was founded in 1243 upon the return of Batu Khan from his campaign in Europe. Its original capital was built in 1254, the city of Sarai-Batu on the Volga. The transformation of the Golden Horde into an independent state was expressed under the third khan Mengu-Timur (1266 - 1282) in the minting of a coin with the name of the khan. After his death, a feudal war broke out in the Golden Horde, during which one of the representatives of the nomadic aristocracy, Nogai, rose to the occasion. As a result of this feudal war, that part of the Golden Horde aristocracy that adhered to Islam and was connected with the urban trading layers won the upper hand. She nominated the grandson of Mengu-Timur Uzbek (1312 - 1342) to the khan's throne.
Under Uzbek, the Golden Horde turned into one of the largest states of the Middle Ages. During the 30-year reign, Uzbek firmly held all power in his hands, cruelly suppressing any manifestation of the independence of his vassals. The princes of numerous uluses from the descendants of Jochi, including the rulers of the Blue Horde, implicitly fulfilled all the requirements of Uzbek. The military forces of Uzbek numbered up to 300 thousand soldiers. A number of raids of the Golden Horde on Lithuania in the 20s of the XIV century. temporarily stopped the advance of the Lithuanians to the east. Under Uzbek, the power of the Golden Horde over Russia was further strengthened.
The state system of the Golden Horde at the time of its formation was of a primitive nature. It was divided into semi-independent uluses headed by the Batu brothers or representatives of local dynasties. These vassal uluses had little to do with the khan's administration. The unity of the Golden Horde rested on a system of cruel terror. The Mongols, who formed the core of the conquerors, soon found themselves surrounded by the vast majority of the Turkic-speaking population they conquered, primarily the Polovtsians (Kipchaks). Already by the end of the XIII century. the Mongolian nomadic aristocracy, and even more so the ordinary mass of the Mongols, became so Turkicized that the Mongolian language was almost ousted from the official documentation by the Kypchak language.
The administration of the state was concentrated in the hands of the Divan, which consisted of four emirs. Local government was in the hands of the regional rulers, directly subordinate to the Divan.
The Mongolian nomadic aristocracy, as a result of the harsh exploitation of serfs, nomads and slaves, turned into owners of huge land wealth, livestock and other valuables (their income of Ibn Battuta, an Arab writer of the 14th century, determined up to 200 thousand dinars, i.e. up to 100 thousand rubles), by the end of the reign of Uzbek, the feudal aristocracy again began to exert a huge influence on all aspects of government and after the death of Uzbek took an active part in the court struggle for power between his sons - Tinibek and Dzhanibek. Tinibek ruled for only about a year and a half and was killed, and the khan's throne passed to Janibek, who was more acceptable as a khan for the nomadic aristocracy. As a result of court conspiracies and turmoil at the end of the 50s, many princes from the Uzbek clan were killed.

The decline of the Golden Horde and its collapse

In the 70s of the XIV century. as a result of the process of feudal fragmentation, the Golden Horde was actually divided into two parts: in the regions west of the Volga, the temnik Mamai ruled, and in the eastern regions, Urus Khan. The temporary restoration of the unity of the Golden Horde took place under Khan Tokhtamysh in the 80s and 90s, but this unity was also illusory, since in fact Tokhtamysh became dependent on Timur and his plans for conquest. Timur's defeat of Tokhtamysh's troops in 1391 and 1395 and the sack of Saray finally put an end to the political unity of the Golden Horde.
The complex processes of feudal fragmentation led in the second half of the 15th century. to the final disintegration of the Golden Horde into the Kazan Khanate. The Astrakhan Khanate, the Great Horde proper, and the Crimean Khanate, which since 1475 became a vassal of Sultan's Turkey.
The collapse of the Golden Horde and the formation of the Russian centralized state created all the conditions for the complete elimination of the heavy Mongol-Tatar yoke and its consequences.

B.A. Rybakov - "History of the USSR from ancient times to the end of the XVIII century." - M., "Higher School", 1975.