The Golden Horde

Location of the Golden Horde

The map below represents the different regions of the split Mongolian Empire during the 15^th century. The territories belonging to the Golden Horde are on the northwest of the map.

Fig. 1- Map of the Mongolian Empire After Splitting.

The Golden Horde covered much of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, stretching from today's Ukraine and Russia to Kazakhstan and Instanbul at the height of its power. Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, can be found just above the Caspian Sea (the body of water in the top half of the 'Timurids' territory.

The Golden Horde History

Genghis Khan made provisions to divide the territories of his kingdom among his children should he die. Jochi Khan, the eldest of the Great Khan's sons, died shortly before his father. Genghis Khan met his end in 1227 due to an accidental fall from his horse, and Jochi's sons Batu Khan and Orda inherited the western territories that had been promised to their father.

The Rise of the Golden Horde

Batu Khan did not rest upon his inheritance. After absorbing his brother Orda's territory, Batu Khan pressed into the Volga region, Bulgaria, and Kyivan Rus'. Following his grandfather's footsteps, Batu Khan led an unstoppable campaign, conquering Bulgaria in 1237 and the Kyivan Rus' cities of Suzdal and Kyiv by 1240.

Fig. 2- Batu Khan invades Kyiv Rus'.

The combined Polish and Hungarian armies, bolstered by Teutonic Knights (military order of the Catholic Church), could not stop Batu Khan's advance. When he began his march upon Vienna, the Khan only turned back because a war for succession had begun in Mongolia due to the death of his uncle, Ogedei Khan. Later, Batu Khan established a capital at Sarai and implemented a tribute system for the Rus' princes.

Batu's brother Berke inherited the Golden Horde in 1257 and continued successful campaigns in Eastern Europe. Notably, Berke Khan officially converted to Islam, foreshadowing the future importance of the religion in the Golden Horde.

Fig. 3- Golden Horde at Kulikovo.

As the passage of leadership exchanged hands from Berke to Mengu-Timir, then to Nogai Khan, the Golden Horde began to focus more on internalizing its kingdom, enhancing its infrastructure, and ingratiating itself in the lands it conquered. Local governors were assigned to regions; the capital city of Sarai surged in population; the Mongols even established an official state religion under Uzbeg Khan: Islam. The Golden Horde did what no one thought the Mongols could do: they settled.

The Fall of the Golden Horde

Troubles began in the second half of the 14^th century. The Black Death was ravaging Europe and Asia, spreading with particular ease through the tight trade routes that the Golden Horde had created. Civil War and infighting split the Golden Horde. Eastern Europeans rebelled and won. Rus' Princes, drawing their strength from Moscow, resisted the Golden Horde's dominion. Attacks by Tamerlane, a powerful Asiatic warlord, devastated Sarai and its connecting trade routes.

The Golden Horde split into multiple Khanates, losing its unified political and cultural identity. These successor Khanates were shadows of the Golden Horde's forgotten rule. Some raids continued, but the dream of conquering all of Europe was lost. The Khanates gradually disappeared, dissolving into other rising nations, the last surviving until 1783 when it was annexed by Russian ruler Catherine the Great.

Rulers of the Golden Horde

The Golden Horde reigned in Rus' and Eastern Europe for two centuries, exercising its power under many different rulers. Yet as the Golden Horde gradually lost influence, so did its Khans. The chart below details some of the prominent Khans in the Golden Horde's history, almost from the horde's first century of power.

Members of the Golden Horde

The Golden Horde subjugated many states in Eastern Europe and Rus' to its mighty reign. Official members of the Golden Horde were the many Mongolian warlords gathered under its banner, but the Golden Horde acquired many vassal states through conquest. The Rus' Princes, Armenians, Crimeans, and Georgians all paid tribute to the Khan of the Golden Horde. Historians speculate that the Rus' Princes and Golden Horde often interacted like a defensive alliance, poised against possible invasion by Lithuania and armies of the Catholic Church.

Meaning of the Golden Horde

The Mongolians of the Golden Horde did not refer to themselves as the 'Golden Horde', but rather as the Ulus of Jochi. Before the seventeenth century, this Rus-based Mongolian sect was never referred to as the Golden Horde. So, why do we now call them the Golden Horde?

One possibility is from the Asian steppe system for cardinal directions. Various colors were attributed to the different directions: black for the north-facing, red for the south, and yellow or gold for the center. (The Golden Horde dominated central Eurasia.) Another possibility comes from rumors. The attribution of gold may have come from the splendorous golden color of Batu Khan's war tent. In any case, the term 'Golden Horde' was given to the Ulus of Jochi by scholars in hindsight.