Golden Horde
Also called: Jochids · Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
The Golden Horde was the Mongol state in the Russian steppes, ruled by the descendants of Jochi, Genghis Khan's eldest son. It grew out of Jochi's ulus (share of people and pasture). At first an ulus had no fixed borders: Jochi's was said to stretch "as far west as his horses could roam". By the mid-13th century, quarrels over succession had turned it into a separate dynasty with its own territory. Nomadic ways of life lasted longer here than in most other parts of the Mongol empire.
Example
Berke (ruled 1257–67) turned the Golden Horde away from Nestorian Christianity and towards Islam, though it fully converted only in the 1350s. He also joined Egypt against the Il-Khans of Iran. The Golden Horde also fought the Il-Khans along the Russian–Iranian frontier, and this pulled its armies away from Europe.
Don't confuse with
- Il-Khanate: the Mongol state in Iran, ruled by Toluy's descendants, not Jochi's. It was the Golden Horde's rival.
- Chaghatai khanate: Chaghatai's line ruled the Transoxanian steppe and the lands north of the Pamirs (later 'Turkistan'), not the Russian steppes.
Related concepts
- Hulegu
- Sack of Baghdad
- Abbasid caliphate
- Il-Khanate
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260
- Ulus
- Karakorum
- Kublai Khan
- Yuan dynasty