Empire · 1242–1502 · Northern & Central Asia
Golden Horde (Ulus of Jochi)
Also known as Khanate of the Golden Horde, Golden Horde, White Horde, Blue Horde
The Golden Horde was the north-western part of the Mongol Empire, granted to the descendants of Genghis Khan's eldest son Jochi. After his son Batu's great western campaign of 1236 to 1242 conquered the Volga Bulgars, the Kipchak steppe and the Russian principalities, Batu settled at Sarai on the lower Volga.
The khans ruled the steppe directly, while Russian princes kept their thrones as tribute-paying vassals. The Horde grew rich on trade along the Volga and through Black Sea ports, and under Özbeg Khan it adopted Islam. From the 1350s it suffered plague and civil war; Tokhtamysh briefly reunited it, but Timur destroyed Sarai in 1395. It then broke into the khanates of Kazan, Crimea, Astrakhan and others, and the remnant Great Horde was destroyed in 1502.
- Years
- 1242–1502
- Capital
- Sarai on the lower Volga
- Greatest extent
- 1310, about 6.00 million km²
- Region
- Northern & Central Asia
From the Danube to western Siberia; c. 6.0M km² in 1310 (Taagepera 1997; Turchin, Adams & Hall 2006)
Legacy
Two centuries of Horde overlordship shaped Russian political traditions, and its Turkic Muslim population included the ancestors of the Volga and Crimean Tatars and the Kazakhs.
Rulers
- Batu Khan 1227 – 1255
Led the western campaign and founded Sarai
- Berke 1257 – 1266
First Muslim khan; fought the Ilkhanate
- Özbeg Khan 1313 – 1341
Made Islam the state religion; height of the Horde
- Janibeg 1342 – 1357
Besieged Caffa during the Black Death
- Tokhtamysh 1380 – 1395
Reunited the Horde and burned Moscow, then was crushed by Timur
Realms on the map
- Golden Horde 1294–1501
- Allegiance of Golden Horde to Yuan Dynasty 1294–1362
- Alliance between Golden Horde and Timurid Empire 1385–1401
- White Horde 1363–1379
- Blue Horde 1363–1379