Ulus
Topic: Nomadic Empires: The Mongols · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
An ulus was the share of the Mongol empire given to the line of each of Genghis Khan's four sons. At first it was not a fixed territory. It was a share of people and pastures that could keep spreading, and the sons were meant to rule together through the quriltai (council of chiefs). By the mid-13th century, fights over succession had turned each shared inheritance into a separate dynasty with its own lands.
Example
Jochi's ulus in the Russian steppes reached "as far west as his horses could roam". It later became the Golden Horde. Toluy's ulus was the home country of Mongolia, and his descendants went on to rule Yuan China and Il-Khanid Iran.
Don't confuse with
- Tuman: an army unit of (in theory) 10,000 soldiers. An ulus was a family's share of the empire, not a military unit.
Related concepts
- Hulegu
- Sack of Baghdad
- Abbasid caliphate
- Il-Khanate
- Battle of Ain Jalut 1260
- Golden Horde
- Karakorum
- Kublai Khan
- Yuan dynasty