Mongol-Tatar state, founded in the early 40s. XIII century Khan Batym (1208-1255) - the son of Khan Juchi - in the lower reaches of the Volga River (Ulus Juchi). The capital was the city of Saray-Batu (in the area of ​​modern Astrakhan). At the beginning of the XIV century. the capital was moved to Saray-Berk (in the area of ​​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) is a feud. state, founded in the beginning. 40s 13th century Khan Batym (1236-1255), the son of Khan Juchi, in the ulus to-rogo (allocated in 1224) included Khorezm, North. Caucasus. As a result of Batu's campaigns in 1236-40, Z.O. included the regions of the Volga Bulgarians, the Polovtsian steppes (see Desht-i-Kipchak), Crimea, Zap. Siberia. The power of the khans of the Z.O. extended to the territory. from the bottom. Danube and Finnish Hall. to the west to bass. Irtysh and lower. Ob to the east, from the Black, Caspian and Aral seas and lake. Balkhash in the south to the Novgorod lands in the North. Arctic Ocean in the north. However, the indigenous Rus. 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 politicians. questions. Z.O. existed until the 15th century. In the east. sources state-in called. Ulus Jochi, in Russian. chronicles - ZO The center of ZO was Nizh. The Volga region, where under Batu city Sarai-Batu became the capital (near modern Astrakhan), in the 1st half. 14th century the capital was moved to Saray-Berk (founded by Khan Berke (1255-1266), near present-day Volgograd). Initially, ZO was subordinate to the chief. mong. khan, since the time of Batu's brother khan berke she became completely independent. ZO was an arts. and fragile state. unification. The population of ZO was variegated in composition. Volga Bulgarians, Mordovians, Russians, Greeks, Khorezmians and others lived in the settled areas. the mass of the nomads was Turkic. the tribes of the Polovtsians (Kipchaks), Kanglys, Tatars, Turkmens, Kirghiz and others. The Mongols themselves in the 13th and 1st half. 14th century gradually adopted the Turk. languages. The level of societies. and the cultural development of the Z.O. population was also different. The nomadic population was dominated by semi-patriarchal, semi-feudal. relations in the districts with a sedentary population - a feud. relationship. After the conquests, accompanied by monstrous destruction and human. victims, ch. the purpose of the Golden Horde rulers was to rob the enslaved population. This was achieved through cruel extortions. The lands, which were in vassal dependence on Z.O., paid tribute, the collection of a cut was often accompanied by predatory raids. Peasant farmers ZO ("sabanchi") paid "sea otter", that is, rent in kind, tax on cultivated land. plots, collection from vineyards, with arts. irrigation - from irrigation ditches, paid extraordinary taxes, as well as fees in favor of officials. In addition, they bore road, pavement, underwater and other duties. Probably, there was also a labor rent, which was performed by sharecropping peasants ("urtakchi"). Nomads, as well as farmers who had livestock, paid a "kopchur" tax on livestock in kind. The severity of taxation intensified in connection with the spread in the Z.O. of the ransom system for collecting taxes, which led to massive abuses. Main part of the land and pastures was concentrated in the hands of the Mong. feud. the nobility, in favor of a cut and the labor population bore obligations. Crafts. production of nomads ZO had the form of domestic crafts. In the cities of Z.O. there were various crafts with production for the market, but the producers were, as a rule, artisans of the conquered regions. Even in Saray-Batu and Saray-Berk, craftsmen were engaged in craft, exported from Khorezm, North. Caucasus, Crimea, as well as alien 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 Saray-Batu, Saray-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 especially important cases, polit. life, kurultais were convened - congresses of the military feud. nobility led by members of the ruling dynasty. Beklyare-bek (prince over princes) was in charge of state affairs, and a vyzir and his assistant (naib) were in charge of individual branches ("sofas"). Darugs were sent to the cities and subordinate regions, ch. the 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 paramilitaries. character, because military. and adm. positions, as a rule, were not divided. The most important positions were held by members of the ruling dynasty, princes ("oglans"), who owned estates in Z.O. and stood at the head of the left and right wings of the army. From the ranks (Noyns) and Tarkhans, DOS emerged. command cadres of the troops - temniks, thousanders, centurions, as well as bakauly (officials who distributed military content, booty, etc.). The fragile nature of the state. unification of ZO, as well as the development of feuds. relations that strengthened the position of large feudal lords and created the basis for internecine struggle between them, and especially growth will liberate. the struggle of the conquered and dependent peoples became Ch. the reasons for the weakening, and then disintegration and death of the Z.O. Already during its formation, the Z.O. was divided into uluses, which belonged to 14 sons of Jochi: 13 brothers were semi-independent. sovereigns who obeyed the top. the authorities of Batu. Decentralizing 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) fact. 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 Janibek (1342-1357) ZO reached max. rise of the military. power. ZO was at this time one of the strongest states in the Middle Ages. Power was centralized. The former uluses were turned into regions led by emirs. The strengthening of the power of the khans was also expressed in the termination of the convocation of kurultays. Military. forces under Uzbek totaled up to 300 tons. However, the troubles, which began in 1357 with the murder of Janibek, testified to the beginning of its disintegration. From 1357 to 1380, more than 25 khans stayed on the Golden Horde throne. The troubles in Z. O. reached the stage when it more and more often ceased to be the state with the center. power. In the 60-70s. fact. Temnik Mamai became the ruler with the help of the dummy khans, who subjugated the lands to the west of the Volga, including the Crimea. In the lands east of the Volga, there was a struggle between the Chinggisids from the house of Batu and the house of his brother Ichen. In the beginning. 60s 14th century Khorezm fell away from ZO, where the state of the Sufis was formed; Poland and Lithuania seized land in the bass. R. Dnieper, Astrakhan separated. In addition, Mamai had to face the intensified alliance of the Rus. Prince, headed by Moscow, the dependence of which on ZO became formal (termination of the payment of tribute). Mamai's attempt to weaken Russia by organizing a huge predatory campaign again led to the defeat of the Tatars by the united Rus. troops in the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. In the 80-90s. 14th century general polit. the situation temporarily developed in favor of ZO. Under Khan Tokhtamysh (1380-95), the troubles ceased, and the center. power began to control DOS. the territory of ZO Tokhtamysh in 1380 defeated the army of Mamai on the r. Kalka, in 1382 went to Moscow, which he captured by deceit and burned. But this was only a temporary success. After strengthening his power, he opposed Timur (Tamerlane) and made a number of campaigns against Maverannahr, Azerbaijan, 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. could not 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 the dummy khans, to subjugate most of the Z.O. leading to the complete disintegration of Z. A. In the beginning. 20s 15th century the Siberian Khanate was formed, in the 40s. - The 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. The dependence of Russia on the Z.O. significantly weakened. In 1480 Akhmat, the khan of the Great Horde, who was for a certain time the successor of the Z.O., tried to obtain obedience from Ivan III, but this attempt ended unsuccessfully. In 1480 rus. the people finally freed themselves from the Tat.-Mong. yoke. The Big Horde ceased to exist at the beginning. 16th century Lit .: V. Tizengauzen, Collection of materials related to the history of the Golden Horde, vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1884; Nasonov A.N., Mongols and Russia, M.-L., 1940; Grekov B. D. and Yakubovsky A. Yu., The Golden Horde and its fall, M.-L., 1950; Safargaliev M.G., The disintegration of the Golden Horde, Saransk, 1960; Merpert N. Ya. (And others), Genghis Khan and his legacy, "ISSSR", 1962, No. 5. V. I. Buganov. Moscow. - *** - *** - *** - The Golden Horde in the second half of the XIII century.

At what stage of education do schoolchildren usually get acquainted with the concept of the "Golden Horde"? Grade 6, of course. The history teacher tells the children how the Orthodox people suffered from foreign invaders. One gets the impression that in the thirteenth century Russia experienced the same brutal occupation as in the forties of the last century. But is it really worth it to blindly draw parallels between the Third Reich and the medieval semi-nomadic state? And what did the Tatar-Mongol yoke mean for the Slavs? What was the Golden Horde for them? "History" (grade 6, textbook) is not the only source on this topic. There are other, more fundamental works of researchers. Let's take an adult look at a rather long time period in the history of our native land.

The beginning of the Golden Horde

Europe first met Mongol nomadic tribes in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The troops of Genghis Khan reached the Adriatic and could successfully advance further - to Italy and to But the dream of the great conqueror came true - the Mongols were able to scoop up water from the Western Sea with a helmet. Therefore, the army of many thousands returned to their steppes. For another twenty years, the Mongol Empire and feudal Europe existed without colliding in any way, as if in parallel worlds. In 1224, Genghis Khan divided his kingdom between his sons. This is how the Ulus (province) of Jochi appeared - the westernmost in the empire. If we ask ourselves what the Golden Horde is, then 1236 can be considered the starting point of this state formation. It was then that the ambitious Khan Batu (son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan) began his Western campaign.

What is the Golden Horde

This military operation, which lasted from 1236 to 1242, significantly expanded the territory of the Jochi ulus to the west. However, it was too early to talk about the Golden Horde at that time. Ulus is an administrative unit in the great and it was dependent on the central government. However, Khan Batu (in the Russian chronicles Batu) in 1254 moved his capital to the Lower Volga region. There he made the capital. Khan founded the large city of Saray-Batu (now a place near the village of Selitrennoe in the Astrakhan region). In 1251, a kurultai took place, where Mongke was elected emperor. Batu arrived in the capital Karakorum and supported the heir to the throne. Other applicants were executed. Their lands were divided between Mongke and Chingizids (including Batu). The term "Golden Horde" itself appeared much later - in 1566, in the book "Kazan History", when this state itself had already ceased to exist. The self-name of this territorial entity was “Ulu Ulus”, which means “Grand Duchy” in translation from Turkic.

Years of the Golden Horde

Demonstration of loyalty to Khan Mongke served Batu a good service. His ulus received great autonomy. But the state acquired full independence only after the death of Batu (1255), already during the reign of Khan Mengu-Timur, in 1266. But even then, nominal dependence on the Mongol Empire remained. This overgrown ulus included Volga Bulgaria, Northern Khorezm, Western Siberia, Desht-i-Kipchak (steppes from the Irtysh to the Danube), the North Caucasus and Crimea. In terms of area, the state formation can be compared with the Roman Empire. Its southern edge was Derbent, and its northeastern border was Isker and Tyumen in Siberia. In 1257, a brother ascended the throne of the ulus (ruled until 1266). He converted to Islam, but most likely for political reasons. Islam did not affect the broad masses of the Mongols, but it made it possible for the khan to attract Arab artisans and traders from Central Asia and the Volga Bulgars to his side.

The Golden Horde reached its peak in the 14th century, when Uzbek Khan (1313-1342) ascended the throne. Under him, Islam became the state religion. After the death of Uzbek, the state began to experience an era of feudal fragmentation. The campaign of Tamerlane (1395) drove the last nail into the lid of the coffin of this great, but short-lived power.

End of the Golden Horde

In the 15th century, the state collapsed. Small independent principalities appeared: the Nogai Horde (early years of the 15th century), Kazan, Crimean, Astrakhan, Uzbek, the Central government remained and continued to be considered supreme. But the days of the Golden Horde are over. The power of the successor became more and more nominal. This state was called the Big Horde. It was located in the Northern Black Sea region and extended to the Lower Volga region. The Great Horde ceased to exist only at the beginning of the sixteenth century, being absorbed

Rus and Ulus Jochi

Slavic lands were not part of the Mongol Empire. What is the Golden Horde, the Russians could judge only by the extreme western ulus of Jochi. The rest of the empire and its metropolitan splendor remained out of sight of the Slavic princes. Their relations with the Jochi ulus in certain periods were of a different nature - from partnership to openly slavish. But in most cases it was a typically feudal relationship between a feudal lord and a vassal. Russian princes came to the capital of the Jochi ulus, the city of Sarai, and brought homage to the khan, receiving from him a "label" - the right to govern their state. He was the first to do this in 1243. Therefore, the most influential and the first in subordination was the shortcut to the Vladimir-Suzdal reign. From this, during the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the center of all Russian lands shifted. It was the city of Vladimir.

"Terrible" Tatar-Mongol yoke

The history textbook for the sixth grade depicts the misfortunes that the Russian people endured under the invaders. However, not everything was so sad. The princes first used the Mongol troops in the fight against their enemies (or pretenders to the throne). Such military support had to be paid for. Then, in the days of the princes, they had to give part of their income from taxes to the khan of the ulus Jochi - their liege. This was called the "Horde exit". If the payment was delayed, the bakauls arrived and collected the taxes themselves. But at the same time, the Slavic princes ruled over the people, and his life went on as before.

Peoples of the Mongol Empire

If we ask ourselves the question of what the Golden Horde is from the point of view of the state system, then there is no single answer. At first, it was a semi-military and semi-nomadic alliance of Mongol tribes. Very quickly - within one or two generations - the striking force of the army of the conquerors was assimilated among the conquered population. Already at the beginning of the XIV century, the Russians called the Horde "Tatars". The ethnographic composition of this empire was very diverse. Alans, Uzbeks, Kipchaks and other nomadic or sedentary peoples permanently lived here. Khans in every possible way encouraged the development of trade, crafts and the construction of cities. There was no discrimination based on nationality or religion. In the capital of the ulus - Sarai - in 1261 an Orthodox bishopric was even formed, the Russian diaspora was so numerous here.

The Golden Horde (Ulus Jochi) is a Mongol-Tatars state that existed in Eurasia from the 13th to the 16th century. During its dawn, the Golden Horde, nominally part of the Mongol Empire, ruled over the Russian princes and collected tribute from them (the Mongol-Tatar yoke) for several centuries.

In Russian chronicles, the Golden Horde bore different names, but most often Ulus Juchi ("Possession of Khan Juchi") and only from 1556 the state began to be called the Golden Horde.

The beginning of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1224, the Mongol Khan Genghis Khan divided the Mongol Empire between his sons, one of the parts was received by his son Jochi, then the formation of an independent state began. After him, his son, Khan Batu, became the head of the Jochi ulus. Until 1266, the Golden Horde was part of the Mongol Empire, as one of the khanates, and then became an independent state, having only a nominal dependence on the empire.

During his reign, Khan Batu made several military campaigns, as a result of which new territories were conquered, and the lower Volga region became the center of the Horde. The capital was the city of Saray-Batu, located not far from modern Astrakhan.

As a result of the campaigns of Batu and his troops, the Golden Horde conquered new territories and occupied the lands during its heyday:

• Most of modern Russia, except for the Far East, Siberia and the North;
• Ukraine;
• Kazakhstan;
• Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Despite the existence of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and the power of the Mongols over Russia, the khans of the Golden Horde were not directly involved in ruling in Russia, taking only tribute from the Russian princes and making periodic punitive campaigns to strengthen their authority.

As a result of several centuries of the rule of the Golden Horde, Russia lost its independence, the economy was in decline, the lands were devastated, and the culture forever lost some types of crafts and was also in the stage of degradation. It is thanks to the long-term power of the Horde in the future that Russia has always lagged behind in development from the countries of Western Europe.

State structure and management system of the Golden Horde

The horde was a fairly typical Mongolian state, consisting of several khanates. In the 13th century, the territories of the Horde were constantly changing their borders, and the number of uluses (parts) was constantly changing, however, at the beginning of the 14th century, a territorial reform was carried out and the Golden Horde received a constant number of uluses.

At the head of each ulus was its own khan, who belonged to the ruling dynasty and was a descendant of Genghis Khan, while at the head of the state was a single khan, to whom all the rest were subordinate. Each ulus had its own manager, ulusbek, to whom lesser officials were subordinate.

The Golden Horde was a paramilitary state, so all administrative and military positions were united.

Economy and culture of the Golden Horde

Since the Golden Horde was a multinational state, the culture also absorbed a lot from different peoples. In general, the culture was based on the way of life and traditions of the nomadic Mongols. In addition, since 1312, the Horde has become an Islamic state, which is also reflected in traditions. Scientists believe that the culture of the Golden Horde was not independent and throughout the entire period of the state's existence was in a state of stagnation, using only ready-made forms introduced by other cultures, but not inventing their own.

The Horde was a military and trading state. It was trade, along with the collection of tribute and the seizure of territories, that was the basis of the economy. The Khans of the Golden Horde traded in furs, jewelry, leather, timber, grain, fish, and even olive oil. Trade routes to Europe, India and China ran through the territory of the state.

End of the era of the Golden Horde

In 1357, Khan Janibek dies and a turmoil begins, caused by the struggle for power between the khans and high-ranking feudal lords. In a short period, 25 khans were replaced in the state until Khan Mamai came to power.

During this period, the Horde began to lose its political influence. In 1360, Khorezm separated, then, in 1362, Astrakhan and the lands on the Dnieper separated, and in 1380 the Mongol-Tatars were defeated by the Russians and lost their influence in Russia.

In 1380 - 1395, the turmoil subsided, and the Golden Horde began to regain the remnants of its power, but not for long. By the end of the 14th century, the state conducted a series of unsuccessful military campaigns, the power of the khan weakened, and the Horde broke up into several independent khanates, headed by the Big Horde.

In 1480, the Horde lost Russia. At the same time, the small khanates that were part of the Horde finally separated. The Big Horde existed until the 16th century, and then also disintegrated.

The last khan of the Golden Horde was Kichi Muhammad.

People-legends. Middle Ages

Timur (Timur-Leng - Iron Chromets), a famous conqueror of the eastern lands, whose name sounded on the lips of Europeans as Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), was born in Kesh (modern Shakhrisabz, "Green City"), fifty miles south of Samarkand in Transoxiana (region of modern Uzbekistan between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya).

According to some assumptions, Timur's father Taragai was the leader of the Mongol-Turkic tribe of Barlas (a large clan in the Mongol-Chagatai tribe) and a descendant of a certain Karachar noyon (a large feudal landowner in Mongolia in the Middle Ages), a powerful assistant to Chagatai, the son of Genghis Khan, the last and distant relative ... Reliable "Memoirs" of Timur say that he led many expeditions during the unrest that followed the death of Emir Kazgan, the ruler of Mesopotamia. In 1357, after the invasion of Tughlak Timur, khan of Kashgar (1361), and the appointment of his son Ilyas-Khoja as governor of Mesopotamia, Timur became his assistant and ruler of Kesh. But very soon he fled and joined the Emir Hussein, the grandson of Kazgan, becoming his son-in-law. After many raids and adventures, they defeated the forces of Ilyas-Khodja (1364) and set off to conquer Mesopotamia. Around 1370, Timur revolted against his ally Hussein, captured him in Balkh and announced that he was the heir to Chagatai and was going to revive the Mongol empire.

Tamerlane devoted the next ten years to the struggle against the khans of Djenta (Eastern Turkestan) and Khorezm, and in 1380 captured Kashgar. Then he intervened in the conflict between the khans of the Golden Horde in Russia and helped Tokhtamysh take the throne. He, with the help of Timur, defeated the ruling khan Mamai, took his place and, in order to take revenge on the Moscow prince for the defeat he inflicted on Mamai in 1380, captured Moscow in 1382.

Timur's conquest of Persia in 1381 began with the capture of Herat. The unstable political and economic situation in Persia at the time favored the conqueror. The revival of the country, which began during the reign of the Ilkhanov, slowed down again with the death of the last representative of the family of Abu Said (1335). In the absence of an heir, rival dynasties took turns on the throne. The situation was aggravated by the clash between the dynasties of the Mongol Jalair, ruling in Baghdad and Tabriz; the Perso-Arab clan of the Muzafarids, ruling in Fars and Isfahan; Harid-Kurtov in Herat; local religious and tribal unions such as the Serbedars (rebels against Mongol oppression) in Khorasan and the Afghans in Kerman, and small princes in the border areas. All these warring principalities could not jointly and effectively resist Timur. Khorasan and all of Eastern Persia fell under his onslaught in 1382-1385; Fars, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Armenia were conquered in 1386-1387 and 1393-1394; Mesopotamia and Georgia came under his rule in 1394. In between the conquests, Timur fought with Tokhtamysh, now the khan of the Golden Horde, whose troops invaded Azerbaijan in 1385 and Mesopotamia in 1388, defeating Timur's troops. In 1391, Timur, pursuing Tokhtamysh, reached the southern steppes of Russia, defeated the enemy and overthrew him from the throne. In 1395, the Horde Khan again invaded the Caucasus, but was finally defeated on the Kura River. To top it off, Timur ravaged Astrakhan and Sarai, but did not reach Moscow. Rebellions that broke out throughout Persia during this campaign demanded his immediate return. Timur suppressed them with extraordinary cruelty. Whole cities were destroyed, the inhabitants were exterminated, and their heads were walled up in the walls of the towers.

In 1399, when Timur was already over sixty, he invaded India, outraged that the sultans of Delhi were showing too much tolerance towards their subjects. On September 24, Tamerlane's troops crossed the Indus and, leaving a bloody trail behind them, entered Delhi.

Tamerlane (Indian drawing)

The army of Mahmud Tughlak was defeated at Panipat (December 17), from Delhi there were ruins, from which the city was revived for more than a century. By April 1399, Timur returned to the capital, burdened with huge booty. One of his contemporaries, Rui Gonzalez de Clavijo, wrote that ninety captured elephants were carrying stones from quarries to build a mosque in Samarkand.

Having laid the stone foundation of the mosque, at the end of the same year, Timur undertook his last great expedition, the purpose of which was to punish the Egyptian Sultan Mameluk for supporting Ahmad Jalair and the Turkish Sultan Bayazet II, who conquered Eastern Anatolia. After restoring his power in Azerbaijan, Tamerlane moved to Syria. Aleppo was taken by storm and plundered, the Mameluk army was defeated, and Damascus was captured (1400). A crushing blow to the well-being of Egypt was that Timur sent all the masters to Samarkand to build mosques and palaces. In 1401, Baghdad was taken by storm, twenty thousand of its inhabitants were killed, and all monuments were destroyed. Tamerlane overwintered in Georgia, and in the spring he crossed the border of Anatolia, defeated Bayazet near Ankara (July 20, 1402) and captured Smyrna, which was owned by the Rhodes knights. Bayazet died in captivity, and the story of his imprisonment in an iron cage forever entered the legend.

As soon as the Egyptian sultan and John VII (later co-ruler of Manuel II Palaeologus) stopped their resistance, Timur returned to Samarkand and immediately began to prepare for an expedition to China. He performed at the end of December, but fell ill in Otrar on the Syr Darya River and died on January 19, 1405. Tamerlane's body was embalmed and sent in an ebony coffin to Samarkand, where he was buried in a magnificent mausoleum called Gur-Emir. Before his death, Timur divided his territories between his two surviving sons and grandchildren. After many years of war and enmity over the left will, the descendants of Tamerlane were united by the youngest son of the khan, Shahruk.

During the life of Timur, contemporaries kept a thorough chronicle of what was happening. It was supposed to serve to write the official biography of the khan. In 1937, the works of Nizam ad-Din Shami were published in Prague. The revised version of the chronicle was prepared by Sharaf ad-Din Yazdi even earlier and in 1723 was printed in the translation of Petit de la Croix.

Reconstruction of Tamerlane's head

The opposite point of view was reflected by another contemporary of Timur, Ibn-Arabshah, who was extremely hostile towards the khan. His book was published in 1936 in Sanders' translation under the title Tamerlane, or Timur, the Great Emir. The so-called "Memoirs" of Timur, published in 1830 in Stuart's translation, are considered forgeries, and the circumstances of their discovery and presentation to Shah Jahan in 1637 are still questioned.

Portraits of Timur by Persian masters have survived to this day. However, they reflected an idealized view of him. They in no way correspond to the description of the khan by one of his contemporaries as a very tall man with a large head, blush on his cheeks and blond hair from birth.

The highest point of the military power of the Golden Horde was the time of Uzbek Khan (1312-1342). His power was equally authoritative in all lands of his vast dominions. According to Ibn-Arabshah, an Arab historian of the 15th century, caravans from Khorezm passed on carts quite calmly, "without fear and fear", up to the Crimea for 3 months. There was no need to carry either fodder for the horses or food for the people accompanying the caravan. Moreover, the caravans did not take guides with them, since in the steppes and agricultural regions there was a dense nomadic and agricultural population, from whom it was possible to get everything they needed for a fee.

After the death of Uzbek Khan, the state of affairs in Ulus Jochi began to gradually change. The firm order began to be undermined by dynastic strife, which took on the character of complex feudal troubles.

The last year of solid power and peace in the Golden Horde should be considered 1356, when Janibek Khan (1342-1357) seized Azerbaijan and its capital Tabriz. Janibek Khan handed over the governorship in Azerbaijan to his son Berdibek, and he went home to his capital. On the way, he fell ill and died before reaching it. Most sources - Muslim and Russian - believe that he was killed at the initiative of his son Berdibek.

The Patriarch's, or Nikon's, chronicle under the year 6865 (1357) says: “That same summer, the Horde did not get overwhelmed, but even more so ... Berdibek would sit on the kingdom after him, and kill your brothers 12; a knocked prince, and with our teacher and goodwill Tovlubiy, we instruct our father to kill and defeat our brothers ... ”.

Berdibek's candidacy, as can be seen from the circumstances of his accession to the throne, was not supported by all the emirs close to the court. The main feudal forces set in motion with some exceptional speed. Civil strife began in the Golden Horde, and with it the disintegration, quite recently, seemed to be of such a strong state. Discontent with Berdibek among the Golden Horde nobility was very great, and he was killed by Kulna, one of the pretenders to the khan throne. Written sources say that Berdibek reigned for only three years, although this is contradicted by the data of numismatics. It is generally accepted to consider the reign of Berdibek from 1357 to 1359.

In 762 x. (1361) Kulna was killed by Navruz, also by his brother. Over the course of twenty years - from 1360 to 1380, that is, the year that Tokhtamysh came to power in the Golden Horde, more than 25 khans fighting among themselves stayed there. The names of these khans are known to us from Muslim sources and Russian chronicles, but mainly from coins. It is very characteristic that the Russian chronicles reflect more fully than the Muslim chronicles the events of this twenty years in the Golden Horde.

In 1361, Nauruz was killed. according to the author of the Nikon Chronicle, “That same summer [in 6868 = = 1360-1361] a certain Zayitsky king Khidr came from the East to the Volozhskoe kingdom as an army, and flattery came to the Ordin princes of the Volozhsky kingdom; and nachacha secretly exiled from Khida-rem, the king of Zayitsky, deceitfully against his king Naurus Volozhsky. " As a result of these secret negotiations, Nauruz was extradited to Kidir, who killed him and his wife, Khansha Taidulu, and together with them those Golden Horde "princes" who were loyal to Nauruz.

The Time of Troubles in the Horde turned out to be very beneficial for Russia. The rival khans themselves began to need the support of the Russian and Lithuanian princes, as a result of which various groups appeared among the Tatar contenders who were looking for ties either with Moscow, now with the Suzdal princes, or even with Lithuania.

Khizr, invisibly, sought to create firm order in the horde, energetically intervened in the affairs of Russia, sent three ambassadors there and summoned the great Moscow prince Dimitri Ivanovich, who later received the nickname Donskoy. At the same time, other Russian princes also visited the Horde - Grand Duke Andrei Konstantinovich of Suzdalsky from Vladimir, his brother from Nizhny Novgorod, as well as Prince Konstantin Rostovsky and Prince Mikhail Yaroslavsky. Khyzr (Kidyr), however, did not succeed in stopping the turmoil and creating the necessary order in the state, since he and his youngest son fell victim to a conspiracy organized by Temir-Khozei, that is, Timur-Khoja, the eldest son of Khyzr. Timur-Khoja reigned for only 5 weeks.

Rebelling against the khan's power, Mamai declared Avdula (Abdallah) from the descendants of Uzbek Khan to be Khan and, acting on his behalf, launched a decisive offensive against Timur-Khoja. According to the chronicler, at this time "there was a battle and jamming in the Horde." Timur-Khoja, hiding from Mamai, fled across the Volga and was killed.

The master of the situation in the Horde became Mamai, who, not being a Chinggisid, could not accept the khan's title and was satisfied with actual power, and for decoration he got himself a dummy khan in the person of the aforementioned Avdul (Abdallah). According to the Nikon Chronicle, this happened in 1362. The city centers of the Volga region, especially Saray Berke, only for a short time belonged to Abdallah and the patron saint Temnik Mamai. Mamai had to fight for a long time in the Golden Horde for the unity of power.

At one time, Mamai and Abdallah had a strong rival in the person of Kildibek, whom the chronicle mentions. Judging by the chronicle and coinage data, Kildibek was killed in 1362. The Rogozhsky chronicler tells about the circumstances of the latter's death as follows: “There were jams in the Horde, Khidyrev's son Murut was on the same side of the Volga, and on the other, Kildibek and their borders were slaughtered and Kildibek was killed ".

The aforementioned Murat captured the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai. Whole regions began to fall away from the Golden Horde state. “Bulat Temir, Prince of the Horde, took the Bulgarians, and captured all the towns on the Volza and the uluses and took away the entire Volozhsky way”. The fall of the Bulgarians, together with the seizure of the Volga trade and military route into the hands of Bulat-Temir (Pulad Temir), dealt, of course, a heavy blow to the unity of the Golden Horde. Following this, another prince of the Horde "Togai, like Bezdezh, that ubo Naruchad took the whole country and stayed there about himself." Under the land of Naruchad, one should understand the area lying on the Moksha River and inhabited by the Mordovians.

The chronicler colorfully describes the dual power, which took place, judging by the coins, from 762 (= 1360-1361) to 764 (= 1362-1363). inclusive. “There were two kings at that time in the Volga kingdom: Avdula was the king of the Mamaev Horde, his prince Mamai a temnik set up a king in his Horde, and the other king Amurat with the Saransk princes. And so those two kings and those two to the Horde, there is little peace, between themselves in enmity and abuse. ”Saray Berke clearly passed from hand to hand.

Murida in 764 AH. he was killed by the main emir Ilyas - the son of Mogul-Buka mentioned in the Russian chronicle. The Saransk throne was then seized by Aziz Khan, the son of Timur-Khoja, the grandson of the Horde-Sheikh. He also reigned as a rival to Abdallah for three years, from 766 to 768 A.H. (= 1364-1367).

Mamai and his dummy khan, Abdallah, had rivals all the time. After the death of Aziz Khan (Aziz Khan was also killed) in the Golden Horde, in addition to Abdallah, minted coins during 767-768. X. (= 1365-1367) Janibek II.

Mamai with his dummy Khan Abdallah at the end of the 60s of the XIV century. took over. The Nikon Chronicle under 6878 (1370) notes that "Prince Mamai Ordynsky in his Horde planted another king, Mamat Saltan." He minted his coins in Horde, Khadzhi Tarkhan (Astrakhan), Novy Madzhar and Novy Crimea. We do not find a single coin minted in N. Saray or Gulistan. The latter circumstance definitely indicates that Mamai, in spite of his successes, could not until the end of his power, his firmly seize the capital of the state Saray Berke.

It was already noted above that in Russia they kept a keen eye on the “turmoil (turmoil) in the Golden Horde. The most far-sighted princes understood perfectly well that there was a weakening of the Tatar power, which must be used in order, if not complete liberation, then to alleviate the hardships of the Tatar yoke. Carefully reading the chronicles, the eye of the researcher, through the thick of all small feudal troubles and clashes, can see a healthy process of unification, which, under the pressure of the iron logic of the struggle against the Tatar oppression and under the leadership of the energetic Moscow prince Dimitri Ivanovich, accelerated every year. Dimitri Ivanovich, later nicknamed Donskoy, ascended the Moscow throne in 1362, having only 11 years.

In the hands of Murid (Amurat), a rival of Mamai and Abdal-lakh, there were lands and cities along the Volga, especially on its left bank, hence both capitals - Saray Berke and Saray Batu, as well as the steppes to the east of the Volga. North Khorezm with the city of Urgench under Khan Murid completely broke away from the Golden Horde and, under the rule of the local Sufi dynasty from the Kungrats, conducted an independent policy and minted its own coins. If we take into account that the Bulgarians and Naruchaty (the region on the Moksha River) also became virtually independent, and in addition, the rival of Mamai and Murida Kildibek minted his coins in New Sarai in 762-763. X. (= 1360-1362), it will become clear that the khan, who was sitting in Sarai, could not have special authority in Moscow.

That is why Dimitri Ivanovich, with the support of Mamai, claims the rights to the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. For his part, in order to weaken Demetrius, Abdallah's rival Murid (Amurat) confirms the rights to the Vladimir principality of Demetrius Konstantinovich of Suzdal. The forces of the two Dimitriy were unequal, and the young Muscovite prince not only managed to force Dimitri Konstantinovich to hand over Vladimir to him, but also persuaded him to abandon Murid's patronage, and with him temporarily recognize Mamai's suzerainty. As compensation, Dimitri Ivanovich handed over to the Suzdal prince Nizhny Novgorod, which they together captured from Prince Boris Konstantinovich.

Mamai temporarily subjugated the Bulgarians, also temporarily captured Khadzhi Tarkhan (Astrakhan) and held the North Caucasus in his hands; however, Mamai never subdued the main part of the Golden Horde - the agricultural belt of the Volga region and its rich cities.

In the period from 773. X. (= 1371-1372) and before Tokhtamysh appeared on the historical stage, the turmoil not only did not stop, but even intensified. The Russian chronicle under 6881 (1373) concisely but very expressively notes the following: “The same summer, it was noticeable in the Horde, and many princes of the Ordin were beaten up between themselves, and the Tatars fell innumerable; so, the wrath of God will come against them because of their iniquity. "

Coin materials give for the first half of the 70s three rival khans:
1) Tulunbek-khanum, khanshu, who minted coins in New Sarai under 773 A.H. (= 1371-1372);
2) Ilban, a khan who beat coins in Saraichik, in the lower reaches of the Ural (Yaik) River in 775 A.H. (= 1373-1374);
3) Ala-Khoja, who minted coins in Saraichik also in 775 A.H. (= 1373-1374).

Dwelling on the events in the Golden Horde in 776 x. (= 1374 - 1375), Ibn Khaldun writes: “There were also several other Mongol emirs who shared in the administration of possessions in the vicinity of Sarai; they disagreed with each other and ruled their possessions independently: in this way Hadji-Cherkes took possession of the outskirts of Astrakhan, Urus-khan took over his estates; Aibek Khan in the same way ... Khadzhi-Cherkes, the ruler of the Astrakhan lands, went to Mamai, defeated him and took Sarai from him "

In the second half of the 70s, shortly before the appearance of Tokhtamysh in the Volga region, there was still Arabshah, whose coins were minted in Novy Saray in 775 and 779. x., that is, from 1373 to 1378 Nikon's chronicle: “The same summer (1377, - A. Ya.) a certain prince, named Arashna, deserted from the Blue Horde beyond the Volga, to the Volozhskaya Mamaev Horde, and Tsarevich Arapsha is perfectly matched, and the warrior is great and courageous and strong, but in bodily age it is too small, courage, but great and defeat many and delight to march to Novgorod Nizhniy.

For his own risk and fear, without any contact with other rival khans, including Mamai (the dummy khan at that time - Muhammad-Bulak), Arabshakh in 1377 set out on a campaign against the Russian lands, towards Nizhny Novgorod, defeated Russian troops and knitted the city.

Apparently, the Arabshahs played a role in the Golden Horde for only one more year, since coins with his name, minted in New Saray, are found under 779 A.H. (= 1377-1378). The rival of Arabshah in the Volga region was another khan, also of Ak-Orda origin and also belonging to the Sheybanov branch of the Juchid dynasty. The name of this khan, judging by the coins, is Kagan-bek, and according to the above-mentioned unknown Persian author of the 15th century. - Kaan-bek. From him came down to us several coins of 777, broken in New Saray, which he apparently owned for a very short time, hardly all this year.

Summing up what was done in the 70s in the Golden Horde, we can briefly say the following. No matter how hard Mamai tried to subjugate the entire Golden Horde, he did not succeed. He never took possession of the Volga region, and only for a very short time was the master of Astrakhan and the Bulgarians. Basically, the rich Volga region remained with the rival khans, for the most part from the Ak-Orda branch of the Juchid dynasty. These khans did not hold on to the throne for more than three years, they were at enmity with each other - and yet they were strong enough not to give the Volga region to Mamai.

Mamai began to prepare for a campaign against Russia not in terms of a simple predatory raid, as did Arabshah in 1377, but with the aim of decisively weakening and subjugating Russia again. As an attempt as a test of such an offensive, Mamai's campaign against Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow in 1378 should be considered. It is known that he managed to take and rob Nizhny, but his troops were not allowed to reach Moscow. Dimitri Ivanovich drove the host of the Horde prince Bigich sent by Mamai across the Oka River. There was a clash between Russians and Tatars on the Vozha River. This time the Russians were victorious.

In 1380, the Battle of Kulikov took place, Russia won a victory - but it was a Pyrrhic victory.

Since the beginning of the XIV century. Ulus Jochi split into two states - Kok-Orda and Ak-Orda, of which the latter was in vassal dependence on the former. After the separation of the Ak-Orda, the term Golden Horde was applied mainly to the lands of the Kok-Orda.
Mubarek-Khoja (720-745) began to mint his own coin, that is, we can say that he proclaimed his independence from the Golden Horde. Mubarek was expelled by Uzbek Khan, Uzbek Khan sent his son Tinibek to Sygnak as Khan in order to unite the White and Golden Hordes in one khan clan. Tinibek was not the White Horde Khan for long - shortly after the death of Uzbek Khan, he was killed by his brother Janibek, who saw in him his main rival - a pretender to the Khan's throne in the Golden Horde. After the death of Mubarek-Khoja and the murder of Tinibek, Janibek Khan intervened in the inheritance of the Ak-Horde throne and imprisoned Chimtai (745-762), the son of Erzen.

After Chimtai, the throne in Ak-Orda passed to Urus-khan, who ruled from 763 to 782 A.H., i.e. from 1361 to 1380. He declared himself the Sovereign Sovereign, but also proposed to intervene in the Kuriltai of the Uzbek nomadic nobility in the affairs of the "Golden Horde". Tui-khoja oglan strongly opposed, for this disagreement and disobedience Tui-khoja oglan was executed. He had a son Tokhtamysh, who in 1376 fled to Samarkand, to Tamerlane. In the mid-70s, Urus Khan already owned Khadzhi Tarkhan (Astrakhan), from where he expelled the aforementioned Khoja Cherkess. After a while, he moved up the Volga and reached Saray, which first passed into the hands of Aibek, a rival of Khoja Cherkes, and then Karikhan, the son of Aibek. In 776 h. (= 1374-1375) Urus Khan took Sarai from Kirikhan and soon began to beat his coins there, as can be seen from the coinage with his name that has come down to us in Sarai with a date of 779 A.H. (= 1377 - 1378).

In 776 h. (= 12 VI 1374 - 2 VI 1375) Tokhtamysh, with the support of Tamerlane, went against the son of Urus Khan. The son was killed, but Tokhtamysh was defeated. Tamerlane gave more troops, Tokhtamysh was defeated again. Urus-Khan demanded that Tamerlane hand over the rebel Tokhtamysh to him, otherwise threatening him with war. In the spring of 778 g, x. (= 1376-1377) Timur again set out on a campaign against Urus-khan with a large army, but did not have a decisive clash with Urus-khan, since the latter died during the campaign. The eldest son of Urus-khan Toktakia sat on the Ak-Horde throne, but he died soon after. The throne passed into the hands of Timur MelikOglan. Timur again handed over command to Tokhtamysh, and again the latter was defeated. Timur at the end of 778 h. (= 21 V 1376 - 8 V ​​1377) sent Tokhtamysh for the fourth time to get the Saganak throne. This time Tokhtamysh was victorious and proclaimed himself khan of the White Horde. Winter 778 x. Tokhtamysh spent in Ak-Orda, putting the affairs of the government in order, establishing good relations with the most powerful and authoritative representatives of the military feudal nobility and gathering a large and good army. In the spring of 779 x. (= 1377 - 1378) he had already entered the Volga region, where invisibly quickly seized Saray Berke and other cities located on the left bank of the Volga.

Let's go back to Mamai. Almost immediately upon returning home, he began to gather as many soldiers as possible on the territory under his control for a new campaign against Russia. However, he never got the opportunity to achieve revenge. Tokhtamysh opposed him. Mamai was defeated, fled and later killed in the Cafe.

Only Khorezm did not enter the newly unified Golden Horde state, which, as you know, actually passed into the hands of Timur.

From the very first days of his reign as the Pan-Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, “that autumn, send your ambassadors to the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich in Moscow, as well as to all the Russian prince, tell them your coming to the Volozhsk kingdom, and how to reign and how your adversary and their defeat the enemy Mamai, and he himself will sit on the kingdom of Volozhsky. " According to the chronicle, "the whole land of Russia will be scarce by any means by the governors and servants and all the troops, and about this great fear has spread throughout the land of Russia." Dimitry Donskoy "Send your Kilichey Tolbuga da Moksia to the Horde to the new Tsar Volozhsky Tokhtamysh for gifts and commemoration." In 1382 Tokhtamysh took and plundered Moscow. The struggle with the Muscovites greatly exhausted his army, and he, having taken a large tribute from the Tver prince, turned south and went to his Horde.

In the winter of 787 x. (12 II 1385-1 II 1386) Tokhtamysh took and ravaged Tabriz - he went to spoil Tamerlane. Tokhtamysh undertook two campaigns against Timur, which did not end in a battle.

Timur began his campaign against Tokhtamysh in the winter of 1390/91. The battle took place on April 18, 1391. The battle was bloody, it went on tensely, with varying success in some areas, but ended with the complete defeat of Tokhtamysh.

Tokhtamysh gathered his forces, began the second campaign and on April 15, 1395, one of the largest battles of that time began, which decided the fate of not only Tokhtamysh. but also the Golden Horde, in any case, its great-power position. Tokhtamysh was defeated and fled. Having directed Kairichak-oglan to the left bank, Timur then went to the Golden Horde city of Ukek (Uvek) and plundered it and its surroundings. Timur went to the western uluses of the Golden Horde towards the Dnieper (Uzi). Coming out to the Uzi river, that is, to the Dnieper, Timur robbed and devastated the lands under the control of Bek-Yaryk-oglan, the emir of Aktau and Ti-mur-oglan. Turning to the Tana (Don) River, Timur unexpectedly moved north to Russian cities and volosts. According to the Nikon Chronicle, Timur with a huge army invaded the Ryazan land and captured the city of Yelets “and the prince Eletsk floodplain, and the people were captured, and others were housed. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, having learned about all this, gathered numerous regiments, set out for the city of Kolomna and occupied the crossing of the Oka. Timur did not dare to clash with the Russians and, having plundered the Ryazan land, went south. With a lot of booty, Timur went to the Lower Volga region, to the city of Balchimkin. He moved through the lower reaches of the Don and on the way decided to capture the city of Azak (Azov). The latter was almost completely robbed. From Azov, Timur went to the Kuban. After passing Dagestan, Timur took Saray Berke Astrakhan, gave the city to the soldiers for complete plunder. The devastated capital of the Golden Horde was set on fire and. invisible, for the most part burned out.

A careful examination of the facts gives the right to say that Timur set himself the task of undermining the economic significance of the richest regions of the Golden Horde - Crimea, the North Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. Timur sought to undermine the maximum caravan trade between Europe and China through the lands of the Golden Horde. After the defeat of Tokhtamysh, a sharp decline of markets and handicraft production began in this vast and recently rich region.

S. Soloviev wrote: “After the defeat of Tamerlanov, the Golden Horde was not dangerous to the Moscow prince for a long time; over the course of 12 years, the chronicler mentions three times only about the border clashes between the Tatar predatory detachments and the Ryazanians: moreover, success for the most part remained on the side of the latter. "

Timur-Kutlug, incited by Idike- (Edigey), took advantage of the defeat of Tokhtamysh in 1395 and pursued an energetic policy, counting on the seizure of the khan's power in the Golden Horde. In 1398 “a certain tsar named Temir-Kutluy and he was a great battle and slaughtered evil. And tsar Temir Kutlui overcame tsar Tokhtamysh and drove him away, and he himself sat in the Volga kingdom of the Volga Horde, and Tokhtamysh tsar fled to the Lithuanian countries. " Vitovt tried to return the throne of the Horde to Tokhtamysh, but was defeated on Vorskla by Edigey.

With the coming to power of Timur-Kutluga (in fact, Edigei), the Golden Horde again for a short time strengthened, but this was only the last outburst of dying fire.

In 1400, according to the chronicle, “Tsar Temir Kutluy died in the Horde and Shadibek sat down on him on the kingdom of the Bolysh Horde Volozhskt”. Shadibek spent his whole life in pleasures and pleasures. Emir Edigi became the complete master of the Golden Horde. He intervened in all matters, established order himself, and “people from freedom fell into embarrassment.” Shadibek did not like this situation, and he wanted to free himself from the despotic temporary worker. In the ensuing struggle, Edigei won.

The place of Shadibek in the Golden Horde, according to the Nikon Chronicle, was taken by Bulat-Saltan. In eastern sources he is known as Pulad Khan. Edigei tried in every possible way to raise the power and prestige of the Golden Horde, resorting for this to all the means tested by the Tatars. Bulat-Saltan (Pulad-khan) demanded that the Russian princes, as before, go to the Horde, receive labels for reign from the hands of the khans, bring gifts, resolve disputes with each other at the Zolo-Toordyn throne, like a supreme judge , etc. So, in the first year of the reign of Bulat-Saltan (Pulad-khan), that is, in 1407, a litigation took place on the issue of the great reign of Tver between Ivan Mikhailovich Tverskoy and Yuri Vsevolodovich Tverskoy, which was resolved by the khan in benefit of the first.

Edigei kindled Vasily Dimitrievich's hostility to Vitovt, pushed him into a military clash, promised help “from the Tatar army. Edigei achieved his goal. Vaeiliy Dimitrievich set out on a campaign to Lithuania and used the Tatar detachment sent to help him. A stubborn struggle began between two princes - one of Lithuania and one of Moscow. As a result, both sides shed a lot of blood, lost a lot of people, devastated cities and villages.

In December 1409, a large Tatar army, led by Edigey, attacked the Russian land. Edigei laid siege to Moscow, but to Edigei “at that time from the Horde, they would soon send a message from Tsar Bulat-Saltan. Chinggisid, who wanted to kill Bulat-Saltan and seize the khan's throne. Edigei had to lift the siege of Moscow and, having received 3000 rubles ransom, return to the Volga with the troops.

The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich began to prepare for a rebuff. According to the information received by Edigey, “Tokhtamyshev's children” have found shelter in Moscow. Vasily Dimitrievich clearly strove to use these Golden Horde princes against Edigei and Pulad Khan. Moreover, the Moscow Grand Duke ceased to show any signs of attention to the Golden Horde envoys. This time the events turned out to be favorable for him. "Jamming" in the Horde intensified, the sons of Tokhtamysh, led by Jelal-ad-din (Zeleni-Saltan), moved from Moscow for help to Lithuania, to Vitovt.

In 1410 Pulad-khan (Bulat-Saltan) died, and Timur-khan, the son of Timur-Kutlug-khan, who came out against Edigei, ascended to the Golden Horde throne. Edigei fled to Khorezm, where he arrived at the beginning of 814 A.H. (= 25 IV 1411-12 IV 1412). Here the troops of Timur Khan besieged him for six months. At this time, the news came that Jalal-ad-din, taking advantage of the absence of Timur Khan, seized power in the Golden Horde. Timur Khan was killed. Edigei defeated the army of Jelal-ad-din, but he himself was driven out of Khorezm two years later.

In 1412, according to the chronicle, “our evil foe Zeleni Tsar Saltan Takhtamyshevich died, was shot in the war by his brother Kirim-Berdey. Kerim-Berdey did not manage to firmly seize power in the Golden Horde, since he had a rival in the person of his brother Kepek Khan.

Edigei went to Kiev in 1416, and was killed in 1419 by one of Tokhtamysh's sons - Kadir-Berdi, who, after the death of Kerim-Berdi, fought all the time with Edigei.

The troubles in the Golden Horde took on an increasingly chaotic character, when it is difficult even to establish which of the rival khans should be recognized as the really leading figure. In fact, the Golden Horde ceased to be a single state with a central government, to which all Tatar uluses would be subordinate. To a certain extent, one could say that the Golden Horde in the former sense was no longer there, there were only Tatars, Tatar uluses, headed by khans from the house of Batu or Sheiban, that is, from the Golden Horde or White Horde "Edigei was the last of the Golden Horde rulers who not only aspired, but at one time and in fact carried out the former great power of the Tatar power in Eastern Europe.

During these years of turmoil and political anarchy, almost chaos, the Golden Horde increasingly lost its positions in the settled, agricultural regions. Under Ulugbek, Khorezm, as we saw above, left the hands of the Golden Horde khans for the second time, and this time forever. Volga cities after their defeat by Timur in 1395 did not recover at all.

Moscow diplomats knew how to conclude an alliance with one of the rival khans and, with the help of such an ally, weaken a more dangerous neighbor. After the death of Demetrius Donskoy, all his successors — Vasily I, Vasily Dark, Ivan III — one is better, the other is worse, but all invariably led a course towards complete liberation from Tatar dependence.

Even before the death of Edigei, in 1416 power in the Golden Horde was seized by the fourth son of Tokhtamysh Khan, Jabbar-Berdi. Jabbar-Birdie fought vigorously and fell in battle in 1417.

After the death of Edigei, we see several rival khans in the Horde. Among them, first of all, Ulug-Muhammad should be noted. One of his early rivals was Davlet-Berdi, whose name also often appears in sources in the 20s of the 15th century.

In 1423 Borak-khan defeated the troops of Ulug-Muhammad and, having seized his possessions, declared himself a khan. lug-Muhammad fled to Lithuania, where he sought refuge and help from Vitovt. Ulug-Muhammad appeared at the court of Vitovt at the end of 1424. Even before his flight to Lithuania, Ulug-Muhammad fled from the steppe to the north, towards Ryazan, another defeated Tatar khan, the son of Tokhtamysh, the aforementioned Kepek Khan. Borak Khan defeated another khan - the aforementioned Davlet-Berdi, who, together with his horde, migrated to the Crimea. This movement, as we have seen below, was subsequently of great importance, since his relative Khadzhi Girey in 1449 was the official founder of the Crimean Khanate.

Ulug-Muhammad, after staying at Vitovt's, managed to gather his strength again and, apparently, not without the help of the great prince, who was friendly to him, regained his position in the steppe. In any case, he managed to win Sarai from Borak-khan. Borak Khan himself was killed in 1428 or 1429, either in battle or as a result of a conspiracy.

Vitovt died in 1430. Ulug-Muhammad in 1433 joined the group of Sigmund. Svidrigailo began to support a new candidate for a leading role in Desht-i-Kshchak. This contender turned out to be Saiid Ahmed, also the son of Tokhtamysh Khan. Vasily the Dark, who was well aware of the affairs of the Horde, quickly recognized Saiid Ahmed in order to weaken the hostile Ulug-Muhammad. Instead of the revived central khan's power, political chaos ensued again, in which several rivals acted simultaneously - Ulug-Mu-Hammed, Sayyid Ahmed and the new challenger Kichik-Mohammed, the son of Temir Khan.

Ulug-Mukhammed (in the transcription of Russian chronicles Makhmet, Ulu-Makhmet) had to leave Desht-i-Kypchak and go to the upper Volga, where he captured the city of Belev in 1437. However, he did not manage to hold the cities, since the Russian troops, gathered by Vasily the Dark, defeated the Tatars near Belev in 1438. Ulug-Muhammad lived near the Moscow state and caused great trouble in Moscow during these years. So, in 1439 he burned down the outskirts of Moscow, having stood at the walls for the last ten days. A few years later we see him near Nizhny Novgorod. In the spring of 1445. he sent two of his sons against Vasily the Dark - Yusuf, whom the Russian chronicle calls Yaku-bom, and Makhmutek. On July 7, 1445, a battle took place at the Efimiev Monastery; Vasily the Dark was not only defeated, but also captured. However, he was not in captivity for long: Ulug-Muhammad let him go home for a huge ransom on October 1 of the same year.

One way or another, but already in the first half of the 15th century. we see the falling away from the Golden Horde of the two richest and most cultural regions - the Crimea and the Bulgarians. The founding of the Crimean and Kazan khanates meant that the Golden Horde was turning almost entirely into a nomadic state. She now had, and then only temporarily, the badly damaged Volga region from Kuibyshev to Astrakhan. In fact, it was the only agricultural and urban base of the Golden Horde.

The disintegration of the Golden Horde was expressed not only in the indicated separation of the most cultural regions and the formation of independent kingdoms from them, but in the emergence of special Tatar vassal principalities on the territory of Russia and the Russian lands subject to Lithuania: we mean the Kasimov principality, vassal to Moscow, and the small principality Jagoldai, located in the Kursk region, vassal to Lithuania and formed around 1438

The master of the situation in the 40s of the XV century. Sayyid Ahmed was in the steppe. He was on bad terms with his western neighbors, Lithuania and Poland, and made systematic raids on them. Such are the campaigns of Sayyid Ahmed against Podolia and Lvov in 1442, against Lithuania in 1444 and again against Podolia in 1447. Lithuania was dealt a particularly strong blow in 1449, when Sayyid Ahmed helped the rebellious Lithuanian prince Michalushka - the grandson of Keistut - take Kiev. Lithuania at that time was united with Poland and since 1447 had a common ruler Casimir IV.

Casimir IV was clearly looking for Saiida Ahmed in the Horde, if not a rival for the khan's title in Desht-i-Kypchak, then at least an enemy who could always be dangerous to him. He found this in Crimea in the person of Khadzhi Girey, who already held de facto power there, but had not yet officially proclaimed himself an independent Crimean khan. Not without the support of Casimir, this proclamation took place in 1449.

In the 50s, we observe the raids of Sayid Ahmed not only to Lithuania, but also to Moscow. The campaign of this khan in 1451 against Moscow is known, which caused great devastation to the immediate vicinity of the city. During one of his campaigns against Lithuania, namely in 1455, Saiid Ahmed fought with the Kiev prince Semyon Olelkovich. In this battle, he was defeated and even taken prisoner. Only in 1457 did he manage to escape from captivity. In 1459 we see Said Akhmed already at the head of the Tatar army against the Russians on the Oka, but this campaign did not bring the Tatars any benefit, as did the campaign of the next, 1460, against Ryazan.

In 1462, Vasily the Dark died and Ivan III ascended the Moscow throne, pursuing an intelligent and very energetic policy towards the Tatars of the Great or Great Horde, as they were called until the greater part in the 15th century. Russian sources for the Tatar Horde in Desht-i-Kypchak.

After an unsuccessful campaign against Russia in 1465, Saiyid Ahmed left the historical stage, giving way to a new pretender to the khan's throne in the Great Horde - Ahmed, the son of Kichik-Muhammad, the most energetic among the khans who competed in Desht-i-Kipchak in the 15th century ... However, no matter how energetic Khan Akhmed was, his whole policy, as we will see below, was completely unpromising, for the balance of forces between Russia and the Great Horde was clearly in favor of Moscow.

Under 1476, the chronicler reports that Akhmed Khan attacked the Crimea and subjugated him, driving Mengli Girey out. In connection with these failures of Mengli Giray in the Crimea, it is necessary to place the embassy of 1476 of Khan Akhmed to Ivan III. A khan's ambassador named Bochuk appeared in Moscow, along with merchants with many goods, mostly horses. The ambassador demanded the personal visit of Ivan III to the khan's headquarters, which in itself sounded like a long-forgotten relic and could not but offend the honor of the Russian sovereign. Ivan III, of course, refused to go and sent Bestuzhev in his place as ambassador. The return of Mengli Giray to power in the Crimea as a vassal of Turkey took place apparently in 1478. By force of things, the Crimean Khan had to go in alliance with Moscow against the Great or Great Horde of Khan Ahmed and against Casimir IV. Ivan III was well aware of the state of affairs in the south and, taking into account the further course of events, conducted through his ambassador Ivan Zvenets appropriate negotiations with Mengli Giray, who had occupied the khan's throne in the Crimea for the second time. At the same time, negotiations on an alliance with the other side were under way. Akhmed Khan and Kazimir IV were clearly preparing a joint attack on Muscovite Rus.

A huge coalition gathered against Moscow, which included Casimir IV, Ahmed Khan, the Livonian Order and the German cities of the Baltic states. Needless to say, how great was the danger hanging over the young Russian state. Although the Livonian Order and German cities distracted part of the Russian forces, they were repulsed with great damage to themselves, especially the master near Pskov. Casimir IV had complications in Lithuania itself, as well as real threats from Mengli Giray, who kept Podolia at bay with the raids of his troops.These complications tied the hands of Casimir IV so much that he could not start active actions together with Ahmed Khan, when the latter set out on his famous campaign against Moscow in 1480.

It is well known that there was no battle on the Ugra tributary of the Oka, on both banks of which there were opponents. Researchers have repeatedly raised the question of how to explain this fact. It seems to us that at the moment the picture is quite clear. Ivan III was waiting for the most favorable moment, wanting to receive information about the actions of Mengli Giray and the successful defense of Russian cities in the north. Ahmed Khan was waiting for help from Casimir IV.

After Ahmed Khan, who was killed in the battle with Aybek in 1481 on the banks of the Donets, the Horde was increasingly falling apart into separate parts, and among the fighting khans, no one had the ability to create a strong state.