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86-444: Defeat of Mamai by Tokhtamysh [REDACTED] c. 1361–79 Khans at Sighnaq Urus Khan (d. 1377) Toqtaqiya Temur-Malik Algirdas Bolgar ulus: 61–68 Bulat-Timur  [ ru ] –76 Hassan The Great Troubles ( Church Slavonic : Великая замятня , romanized:  Velikaya zamyatnya , as found in Rus' chronicles ), also known as

172-510: A yarlik (patent). They employed this highly symbolic title to prop up a weaker Rus' principality (usually Muscovy ) against a stronger one (usually Tver ) to keep the latter in check as a divide and rule policy. The Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal also played this power game according to the Mongol rules in 1353 and 1371. In the mid-14th century, Algirdas (Olgerd) of Lithuania would try to bring Tver and Ryazan under his control during

258-537: A crisis on the western frontier, where the Lithuanians and Wallachians had defeated one of his lieutenants. As in 1362, his rapid response met with some success, but in the process he lost control of Sarai: Muḥammad-Sulṭān was expelled by again by Urus Khan in 1374. He lost the city in his turn in 1375, to Qāghān Beg , the son of Īl Beg. Qāghān Beg subsequently yielded the throne of Sarai to his cousin ʿArab Shāh , son of Khayr-Pūlād, in 1377. Finally, in 1380, ʿArab Shāh

344-422: A formidable ally in his cousin governing the former Ulus of Orda. The elimination of Mamai's cousin, Tingiz-Buqa, by the local khan Qara-Noqai, may have threatened to undermine Mamai's safety and impelled him to act proactively. The murder of Khiḍr Khan , a descendant of Jochi's son Shiban , and the struggle among his kinsmen and rivals for possession of Sarai in 1361 gave Mamai the opportunity to do so. Since Mamai

430-511: A group of Rus' princes who were concerned about the rise of the Daniilovichi princely dynasty of Muscovy; the princes of Rostov, Beloozero, and Galich–Dmitrov supported Konstantinovich's claim to grand prince in return for receiving extra power for themselves from Nawruz. Nawruz was overthrown in 1361, however. By 1360, Urus Khan had set up court in Sighnaq (near modern Shieli , Kazakhstan ). He

516-629: A new protégé, Tūlāk, by February 1379. During the 1370s, Mamai reestablished the traditional friendly relations between the Golden Horde and Mamluk Egypt , on behalf of his khan. Closer to home, he was in frequent diplomatic contact or armed conflict with the Italian merchant colonies in the Crimea and, more generally, the northern shores of the Black Sea . The rivalry between Venetians and Genoese exacerbated

602-528: A second investiture with the grand princely throne of Vladimir in early 1371, but was refused entry into Vladimir by the inhabitants. Dmitrij ignored Mamai's instructions to submit to Mihail, but soon presented himself before Mamai with gifts, and secured his own confirmation as grand prince of Vladimir. In effect, Mamai had forced the princes of Moscow and Tver' to bid for the throne of Vladimir with gifts, which enriched Mamai and his followers. This opportunistic policy did not, however, solidify Mamai's control over

688-517: A series of dynastic regicides, first intermittently, then from 1359 with alarming frequency. Özbeg's son Tini Beg was murdered by his brother Jani Beg (1342), who in turn was possibly killed by his son Berdi Beg (1357). The latter's assassination by his brother Qulpa in 1359 is usually considered the start of the Great Troubles. When Qulpa was killed (1360) by yet another brother, Nawruz Beg , who himself died under suspicious circumstances after

774-489: A tendency to consider them descendants of Batu Khan . Nevertheless, the purge of the ruling family perpetrated by Mamai's father-in-law Berdi Beg in 1357 makes such identifications unlikely. A more plausible hypothesis identifies Mamai's puppet khans with a cluster of suitably-named princes listed among a "Crimean" branch of the descendants of Jochi's son Togai-Timur in the genealogical compendiums Muʿizz al-ansāb and Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah . If this identification

860-529: A year on the throne, the lineage of Batu Khan (the 1242 founder of the Golden Horde) went extinct. From 1360 to 1380, competing branches of the Jochid clan fought bitterly over the fate of the dynasty, while no fewer than 24 khans (possibly even more) were enthroned. The capital city of Sarai changed hands multiple times, in one year being successively conquered by 6 different pretenders. Khan Berdi Beg (Berdibek)

946-437: Is a variation of that name or an additional, "folk" name, remains unclear. Mamai became an emir during the reign of Jani Beg (1342–1357). After the governorship of Crimea at Solkhat had been held by a member of a different family in 1349–1356, it seems to have been conferred on Ali Beg, perhaps Mamai's father. He died soon after, and the governorship was given to his brother, Qutluq-Timur. He appears to have died by 1359, and

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1032-405: Is accepted, Mamai's protégés as khans were as follows: After briefly supporting the impostor who pretended to be Kildi Beg , son of Jani Beg, Mamai proclaimed his own khan, ʿAbdallāh, in the Crimea in 1361, and succeeded in installing him at Sarai in 1362. However, later the same year ʿAbdallāh was ejected from the city by Murād (or Mürid, 1362–1363), a brother of the former ruler Khiḍr Khan. He

1118-465: Is extant. In the mid-fifteenth century, Grand Duke Basil II of Moscow began forbidding other Rus princes from receiving the jarliq from Mongol khans, thus establishing the right of the Moscow grand prince to authorize local princely rule. Mongol leaders gave the jarliq to emissaries, travelers, monks and merchants to give them free passage, exemptions from taxes and imposts and security. Kublai Khan began

1204-626: Is supposed to have occurred in the early 15th century, although the first documented mention of the Glinski princes dates to 1437. Mihail L'vovič Glinskij was the most illustrious member of the family: he studied at the German university, took part as a knight in the Italian Wars , was the most powerful man in Lithuania in the 16th century, but later rebelled and ran away with his brothers to Muscovy and helped

1290-509: The darughachi or basqaq ( baskak ) from the subordinate Rus' principalities provided the Horde's coffers with plenty revenue. The responsibility of tax collection was eventually transferred from the basqaq to the Rus' princes, although it is unclear when this happened, or why, though the Golden Horde officials authorised with collecting the taxes were widely hated in Rus' sources. The last references to

1376-617: The Battle of Blue Waters in 1363. A powerful Mongol general by the name of Mamai backed Abdullah but failed to take Sarai, which saw the reign of two more khans, Murad and Aziz. Abdullah died in 1370 and Muhammad Bolaq was enthroned as puppet khan by Mamai. Mamai also had to deal with a rebellion in Nizhny Novgorod . Muscovite troops impinged on the Bulgar territory of Arab-Shah, the son of Bulat Temir, who caught them off guard and defeated them on

1462-558: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople . The friendly gesture did not yield the desired results, and Mihail perished during the sea voyage from Caffa to Constantinople. Mamai also made one more attempt to turn the Russian princes against each other, sending a renegade Muscovite boyar to incite Mihail of Tver' against Dmitrij of Moscow; the plan failed when he was recognized and arrested at Serpuhov , to be publicly executed in Moscow at

1548-680: The Golden Horde Dynastic War , was a war of succession in the Golden Horde from 1359 to 1381. This era, which followed shortly after the Black Death had ravaged the cities of the Golden Horde, was characterised by two decades of near anarchy. A long series of short-reigning khans deposed and killed each other, only to suffer the same fate next. Mamai emerged as the most powerful Mongol warlord, frequently employing Rus' principalities such as Tver and Ryazan as his allies. Because he

1634-638: The Lithuanian–Muscovite War (1368–1372) , and also played by the Mongol rules by sending a delegation to Golden Horde (as the neutral power-broker) in order to negotiate peace. But the Mongols used Moscow to counterbalance the rise of Lithuanian power; they arrested the Lithuanian envoys and handed them over to the Muscovites, so that Algirdas had to ransom his emissaries from his enemies. Two developments in

1720-641: The Pisan colony at Porto Pisano on the Don, on the north coast of the Sea of Azov . Perhaps to offset the economic influence of the Italian merchants, Mamai also granted diplomas to merchants from Polish Cracow in 1372 and from its rival, Galician L'vov , in 1379. Relations with Lithuania , ruled by Algirdas (1345–1377) and Jogaila (1377–1434) were dominated by diplomatic and military concerns. On at least two occasions, in 1362 and 1374, Mamai lost control over Sarai, because he and

1806-519: The Qipchaq Khanate : A seventh jarliq, which purports to be from Khan Özbeg to Metropolitan Peter (found in the so-called full collection) has been determined to be a sixteenth-century forgery. The jarliq to the metropolitans affirm the freedom of the Church from taxes and tributes, and declare that the Church's property should be protected from expropriation or damage as long as Rus' churchmen pray for

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1892-611: The Yuan Dynasty in China still considered jarlig must be issued by only Qa'an/Khagan (Emperor) but linkji by khans (princes) of three western khanates. However, some high-ranking officials continued to issue jarligs under the name of a khan or Emperor in Central Asia . The Rus' metropolitan archive preserves six jarliq (constituting the so-called Short Collection) considered to be translations into Russian of authentic patents issued from

1978-472: The basqaq system are found from the 1350s to 1382 in the Principality of Ryazan (possibly the last region to switch to princely tax collection), while emir Mamai is said to have intended to restore the basqaq system around 1380, indicating that it had fallen into disuse by then. The khans obtained the prerogative of granting the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir to any Rus' prince they favoured through

2064-510: The 1230s. From the mid-13th to mid-15th centuries, all princes of Northeastern Rus received jarliq authorizing their rule. The issuing of jarlyk on governing of Rus finalized the establishment of the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir (Grand Prince). Initially, those jarliq came from the qaghan in Karakorum , but after Batu established the khanate of the Golden Horde ( c.  1227 ), they came from Sarai . None of these jarliq, however,

2150-406: The Crimea, forcing him to leave Sarai and rush home. Meanwhile, Ḥājjī Cherkes proclaimed a khan of his own, Ūljāy-Timur, a descendant of Jochi's son Toqai-Timur, and advanced on Sarai. Khan ʿAbdallāh was once more expelled from the capital, and Ūljāy-Timur was enthroned there by Ḥājjī Cherkes in 1368. Mamai now repaid his rival in kind, attacking Ḥājjī Cherkes' power base Astrakhan. While Ḥājjī Cherkes

2236-411: The Golden Horde was apparently impacted by an outbreak of plague. Emboldened by the attitude of Moscow, Nižnij Novgorod arrested and beat Mamai's envoys in 1374. Mamai retaliated by raiding the lands of Nižnij Novgorod and sacking Novosil' in 1375; he also invested Mihail of Tver' with the title of grand prince of Vladimir once again. Dmitrij immediately besieged Tver' and secured Mihail's renunciation of

2322-457: The Golden Horde, Mamai (like Edigu after him) does not appear to have taken the title of Güregen , commonly taken by men marrying women descended from Genghis Khan. According to the contemporary traveler Ibn Khaldun, Mamai was now in charge of all government, while Russian chronicles note him sending emissaries to Moscow . The sudden (and probably violent) death of Berdi Beg in August 1359, and

2408-417: The Golden Horde, by Öz Beg Khan . Isatai's son Jir-Qutluq and the latter's son Tingiz-Buqa enjoyed the same position under the next khans, Jani Beg and Berdi Beg . Specific information about Mamai's immediate origins is very limited, but his father is named as Alash Beg (possibly Ali Beg), probably the son of Tuluq-Timur Kiyat, and therefore possibly the brother of the aforementioned Isatai. At least part of

2494-588: The Khan's power. Mamai hired Genoese , Circassian , and Alan mercenaries for another attack on Moscow in 1380. In the ensuing battle, Mongol forces once again lost at the Battle of Kulikovo . The Great Troubles came to an end when Tokhtamysh personally defeated Mamai the Battle of the Kalka River (1381) to become the undisputed khan of the Golden Horde. The siege of Moscow in 1382 was motivated by khan Tokhtamysh's desire to punish Muscovy for its audacity to challenge

2580-578: The Lithuanians were exploiting the troubles within the Golden Horde to their advantage, Mamai appears to have attempted to do the same during the competition for power within Lithuania after the death of Algirdas in 1377 between his brother and son: in 1380 the Lithuanian prince Aleksandras Karijotaitis fell in battle against the Mongols. Algirdas' son Jogaila eventually decided that he needed Mongol support against his uncle, and sent an envoy to Mamai to make peace and arrange for an alliance between them. Mamai could benefit from his new Lithuanian alliance to keep

2666-511: The Mongol warriors and even commanders. Humiliated and irritated, Mamai led another raid on Rjazan', once more sacking the city. Perhaps trying to recover his position by diplomacy, Mamai next showed favor to the Muscovite candidate for the newly vacant metropolitan throne, Archimandrite Mihail, granting him a diploma from the khan in February 1379, long before he could be appointed metropolitan by

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2752-404: The Rus' princes of Tver, Riazan, and Nizhniy Novgorod against Muscovy, and launched a surprise attack on the city in 1382. Prince Dmitry Donskoy , who had led his largely Muscovite army to a pyrrhic victory at Kulikovo two years earlier, abandoned his capital and fled north, leaving the dismayed citizens of Moscow to ask a Lithuanian prince named Ostei (or Ostej), a grandson of Algirdas , to lead

2838-631: The Rus' principalities' vassalage to the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde had reached the height of its power and prosperity under Özbeg Khan ( r.  1313–1341 ), when overland trade from the Black Sea to Yuan dynasty China flourished. While Özbeg adopted Islam , the Orthodox Church (exempt from taxes through yarlik s or patents) continued supporting his rule, and the Turco-Mongolian population of his realm gradually assimilated and became known as " Tatars ". Taxes regularly collected by

2924-463: The Russian princes, and in 1373 Dmitrij of Moscow assumed an ambivalent attitude during Mamai's raid into the lands of Rjazan' . Mamai lost the cooperation of the Russian princes, and especially Dmitrij of Moscow, after his loss of Sarai in 1374. Dmitrij may have felt the need or opportunity to refuse Mamai's demands for tribute, as his influx of silver from Hanseatic trade in the Baltic declined, while

3010-479: The Russians in line, especially as the prince of Moscow , also grand prince of Vladimir became increasingly recalcitrant and refused to pay his heavy tribute in silver to the Mongols. Military operations and raids for plunder yielded limited results. Although some other Russian princes did continue to pay their tribute (most notably that of Tver' ), Mamai sought alternatives to make up for the lost influx of silver. One

3096-482: The Russians to retake the city of Smolensk . His niece Elena Glinskaya was married to Vasilij III of Moscow , and Ivan the Terrible was their son. Yarlik A jarlig, also written yarlyk , is an edict, permission, license, or written commandant of Mongol and Chinggisid rulers' "formal diplomas." It was one of three non-fundamental law pronouncements that had the effect of regulation or ordinance,

3182-617: The Tatar–Mongol Golden Horde, now ruled by Tokhtamysh. According to Charles J. Halperin Halperin (1987), 'Moscow benefited more from the deteriorating relations between Tokhtamysh [and] Tamerlane (Timur) than it had from the victory of Kulikovo.' The Tokhtamysh–Timur war (1386–1395) and the 1399 Battle of the Vorskla River established Timurid control over the Golden Horde and its Rus' vassals, but because Muscovy mostly escaped

3268-530: The absence of the Muscovite forces, Mamai intervened (assisted by the Mordva ), defeated the Nižegorodians at the P'jana river, and then sacked and burned Nižnij Novgorod in 1377. Unwilling to see his overlordship over the Russian princes pass back to Mamai, ʿArab Shāh raided through Suzdalia and sacked Rjazan' . In 1378, Mamai dispatched an army under several emirs against Rjazan', which had not yet recovered from

3354-564: The amount paid before the wars between Öz Beg and Jani Beg and the Italians. Mamai, moreover, allowed the Venetians to build fortifications at Tana: they built a small fortress in 1370, which they expanded in 1375, to protect themselves from their Genoese rivals. Mamai's interactions with the Genoese appear to have been more frequent. In the early 1370s the relations were peaceful, and in 1374 Mamai himself

3440-423: The authority of the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). Even though it was his rival warlord Mamai who was defeated at Kulikovo, and Tokhtamysh personally defeated Mamai at the Kalka River (1381) to become the undisputed khan, he wanted to make Moscow an example of what happened if anyone dared defy Mongol supremacy over the Rus' principalities. Tokhtamysh allied himself (in part through coercion) with

3526-636: The banks of the Pyana River (1377). However Arab-Shah was unable to take advantage of the situation because of the advance of another Mongol general from the east. Mamai sent an army against the Muscovite alliance in 1378, but Dmitri Donskoy defeated Mamai's forces led by general Begich at the Battle of the Vozha River . In 1372, Urus marched west and occupied Sarai. His nephew and lieutenant Tokhtamysh deserted him and went to Timur for assistance. Tokhtamysh attacked Urus, killing his son Kutlug-Buka, but lost

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3612-458: The battle and fled to Samarkand . Soon after, another general Edigu deserted Urus and went over to Timur. Timur personally attacked Urus in 1376 but the campaign ended indecisively. Urus died the next year and was succeeded by his son, Timur-Melik, who immediately lost Sighnaq to Tokhtamysh. In 1378, Tokhtamysh conquered Sarai. By the 1380s, the Shaybanids and Qashan attempted to break free of

3698-539: The battlefield with his remaining loyal supporters, but lost his harem and much of his possessions to the victor. Mamai and his retinue made their way to the Crimea. Mistrusting the loyalty and ability of his governors there, Mamai decided to seek refuge in Genoese Caffa. However, fearing the wrath of Tokhtamysh, the city's commune refused to admit Mamai within the walls. Still pursued by Tokhtamysh's agents, Mamai now headed to his old headquarters at Solkhat. Here, too, he

3784-591: The bulk of his forces had to rush to the western frontier to oppose Lithuanian advances from the northwest. Although for the most part he managed to stem these advances, Mamai lost territory to Lithuania, most notably the Podolia following the Lithuanian victory at the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. The influence or overlordship of the Golden Horde in Moldavia also ended about this time, the principality becoming autonomous, albeit under Hungarian and Lithuanian influence. While

3870-407: The city immediately (if he ever held it at this point) after failing to dislodge Ḥājjī Cherkes from Astrakhan. This rivalry allowed another descendant of Shiban, Khayr-Pūlād's brother Īl Beg , to seize Sarai briefly in 1374. Mamai returned to Sarai, defeating and expelling Īl Beg, and reinstalling Muḥammad-Sulṭān in 1374. No sooner had Mamai succeeded in this task, that he was again forced to attend to

3956-609: The city, and in 1375 Mamai was able to have his khan recognized at Astrakhan, following the death of his old rival Ḥājjī Cherkes. Mamai's attempt to retain suzerainty over the Russian princes, however, was successfully challenged and undermined by the new Khan ʿArab Shāh, who in 1378 defeated and killed Mamai's subordinate ally Tagai, the governor of Mokhshi . Continued reverses in Volga Bulgaria and Russia (see below) threatened Mamai's position, and perhaps because of this he disposed of his puppet khan Muḥammad-Sulṭān and replaced him with

4042-539: The clan may have been ensconced in the Crimea , perhaps since the early 14th century, before several Kiyats appeared as governor on the eastern periphery of the Golden Horde. The date of Mamai's birth can be estimated only generally, to somewhere in the mid-to-late 1320s. At birth, he appears to have received the Muslim name Muḥammad, sometimes paired with the nickname Kičik ("little"), perhaps due to his short stature. Whether "Mamai"

4128-445: The court and named him chief emir ( beglerbeg ). Moreover, perhaps at this time Berdi Beg gave his daughter in marriage to Mamai. Although the explicit reference to the marriage by Ibn Khaldun only refers to the princess by title ( Ḫānum ), she has been plausibly identified as Tulun Beg Khanum , whom Mamai would later briefly elevate to the throne, and who would later yet marry Tokhtamysh Khan. Perhaps in keeping with tradition within

4214-421: The defence. The princes of Nizhniy Novgorod tricked the population into surrendering the city, after which Tokhtamysh' forces immediately sacked Moscow as punishment for resisting Mongol authority. Although Kulikovo had marked Muscovy's new position as the pre-eminent state amongst the Rus' principalities, the subsequent sack of Moscow confirmed that Donskoy and the other princes remained firmly under suzerainty of

4300-457: The destruction of war, these years allowed it to recover and grow its strength. Halperin (2016) described the Juchid ulus (Golden Horde) as having evolved from "the thirteenth to early fourteenth century major European and Asian power" to a "late fourteenth-century minor regional East European [power]" during the decades-long war. Tokhtamysh was not as bloodthirsty as Genghis Khan , and did not have

4386-457: The difficulties involved in these relations. When the Venetians of Tana supported Kildi Beg as khan, Mamai punished their leadership, including the Venetian consul Jacopo Corner. Subsequently, he sought to improve relations with them by granting them a lower tribute in a diploma issued in the name of his khan, ʿAbdallāh, in 1362. Later, in 1369, Mamai lowered the Venetian tribute even more, restoring

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4472-495: The elusive claim, while signing a defense pact against the Mongols. By 1376, most Russian princes transferred their obedience to Qāghān Beg and his cousin ʿArab Shāh, serving them in a punitive expedition in Volga Bulgaria. When the Russian princes helped themselves to local wealth without authorization, they risked the khan's wrath, and in 1377 the Moscow and Nižnij Novgorod joined forces to defend themselves against their new overlord. But while ʿArab Shāh prepared to engage them, and in

4558-557: The end of August 1379. His other plans having failed, Mamai sent an ultimatum to Dmitrij of Moscow, demanding that the grand prince submit and pay an increased tribute to Mamai's new khan, Tūlāk. Dmitrij failed to accede to the demand, and Mamai prepared for war. He sought out the support of Jogaila of Lithuania and was also assured of the cooperation of Oleg Ivanovič of Rjazan'. While Mamai was still gathering his forces (including mercenaries from Transcaucasia and Genoese Crimea), an alliance of Russian forces under Dmitrij of Moscow, excluding

4644-523: The governorship was entrusted to a member of another clan, Qutluq-Buqa of the Kungrat , a brother of the chief emir ( beglerbeg ) Mogul-Buqa. Mamai appears to have resented this apparent slight, and left the capital Sarai with his dependents and clansmen, to assert himself locally in and near the Crimea. Troubled by this desertion and possibly already threatened by a rival claimant to the throne ( Qulpa ), Khan Berdi Beg (1357–1359) apparently recalled Mamai to

4730-499: The help of Dmitrij of Suzdal', Mamai felt secure enough to proclaim Muḥammad-Sulṭān khan at Sarai the end of 1371 or the beginning of 1372. Mamai's success once again proved ephemeral. Perhaps during Mamai's absence, in 1373, Sarai attracted a new conqueror, Urus Khan , another descendant of Jochi's son Tuqa-Timur, who had become ruler of the former Ulus of Orda in the eastern portion of the Golden Horde. Urus appears to have ejected Mamai's protégé Muḥammad-Sulṭān from Sarai, only to lose

4816-506: The internecine warfare that weakened Mongol-Tatar control in the region. Algirdas defeated Mamai's forces at the Battle of Blue Waters and thereby conquered the Principality of Kiev , while Dmitry Donskoy successfully united most Rus' princes against Mamai at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo , solidifying Muscovite pre-eminence amongst them. However, Tokhtamysh 's lightning rise to power in the late 1370s, his definitive victory over Mamai (1381) and subsequent sack of Moscow (1382) confirmed

4902-475: The latter died in 1370, Mamai seems to have hesitated before making ʿAbdallāh's young son Muḥammad-Sulṭān khan, at least at Sarai. Accordingly, in 1370–1371 he had Sarai recognize as reigning queen, Tulun Beg Khanum , apparently Mamai's wife, the daughter of Khan Berdi Beg . Meanwhile, Mamai's Crimean headquarters already coined in the name of Muḥammad-Sulṭān. After suppressing opposition in Volga Bulgaria with

4988-556: The means to completely level Moscow (as Genghis would have done), just like Özbeg Khan had not wiped Tver from the face of the earth after crushing the Tver Uprising of 1327 . Mamai Unlike the khans of the so-called Golden Horde, Mamai was not a descendant of Genghis Khan and his son Jochi , but belonged to the powerful Mongol Kiyat clan, which claimed descent from Mugetu Kiyan (Mūngdū Qayān), an older brother of Genghis Khan's father Yesugei Baghatur. While they served

5074-418: The mid-14th century were catastrophic for the Horde's society and economy: several Mongol khanates fell between 1330 and 1370, and the Black Death reached the capital city of Sarai in the 1340s, spreading to all urban centres of Golden Horde and its vassals, with many in the ranks of the khan's army and up to 25% of the Rus' population dying to the pandemic . The end of Özbeg Khan's reign in 1341 also sparked

5160-479: The other two being debter (a record of precedence cases for administration and judicial decisions) and billing (maxims or sayings attributed to Genghis Khan ). The jarlig provides important information about the running of the Mongol Empire . Ögedei Khagan prohibited the nobility from issuing gergees (tablet that gave the bearer authority to demand goods and services from civilian populations) and jarliqs in

5246-477: The practice of having the four great aristocrats in his kheshig sign all jarliqs (decrees), a practice that spread to all other Mongol khanates in 1280. Ghazan reformed the issuance of jarliqs (edicts), creating set forms and graded seals, ordering that all jarliqs be kept on file at court in Persia. Jarliqs older than 30 years were to be cancelled, along with old paizas (Mongol seals of authority). Even after 1260,

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5332-556: The prince of Tver' Mihail Aleksandrovič , who was duly invested as grand prince of Vladimir. Dmitrij did not yield the grand princely throne, and in fact attacked Mihail as he was returning from Sarai, forcing him to flee to his brother-in-law Algirdas of Lithuania. Although the Lithuanians took up Mihail's cause and besieged Moscow in December 1370, the siege was lifted by the arrival of Dmitrij's allies. The Lithuanians returned home, while Mihail went to Sarai to seek Mamai's help. He received

5418-527: The princes of Tver' and Rjazan', crossed southward into Mongol territory in an anticipatory advance. Abandoning their usual defence strategy, the Russian forces suddenly attacked Mamai's army on 8 September 1380 at Kulikovo Field on the banks of the Neprjadva river near the Don . Mamai's mercenaries were perhaps poorly coordinated, although they offered determined resistance. Mamai's puppet khan failed to reach safety and

5504-455: The raid of ʿArab Shāh the previous year. Oleg Ivanovič , the prince of Rjazan' was unable to offer resistance, but Dmitrij of Moscow decided to oppose the Mongols. As they were crossing the Voža river on 11 August 1378, the Mongols were beset on three sides by the Muscovites, defeated, and turned to flight. The battle was Dmitrij's first victory against the Mongols, and resulted in heavy losses among

5590-507: The resulting accession of Qulpa undermined Mamai's position of supremacy at court. Under Qulpa and his successor Nawruz Beg , Mogul-Buqa became beglerbeg again, confirming Mamai's exclusion from power at court, although his precise position and relations with the khans remains unclear. Still in control of at least part of the warriors associated with the Kiyat tribe, Mamai was apparently too powerful to eliminate. Until 1361, moreover, he may have had

5676-459: The rulers of the Golden Horde from at least Batu Khan , the Kiyats may have risen in importance after the fall of the rival khan Nogai in 1299. Abandoning Nogai in favor of the legitimate khan, Toqta , Aq-Buqa Kiyat enjoyed the favor of the khan and his successor, and served as one of the chief emirs. Another Kiyat, Isatai, was entrusted with governing the former ulus of Orda in the eastern part of

5762-528: The service and tribute of the Russian princes, and to that end he came to an arrangement with Dmitrij of Moscow and the Metropolitan Aleksej, lowering the amount of tribute owed to the khan; the prince of Moscow was also confirmed in his possession of Rostov . The rival khan Murād accordingly invested another Russian prince, Dmitrij Konstantinovič of Suzdal' , as grand prince of Vladimir. Similarly, Mamai and Khan ʿAzīz Shaykh supported rival claimants for

5848-480: The throne of Nižnij Novgorod in 1365; in this instance, Mamai supported Dmitrij Konstantinovič, who subsequently helped Mamai subdue opposition in Volga Bulgaria in 1370. The struggle for supreme authority in the Golden Horde thus presented the Russian princes with both challenges and opportunities. In 1370, Mamai shifted his favor from Dmitrij of Moscow (who had failed to assist Mamai's cause in Volga Bulgaria) to

5934-400: The time they arrived, Nawruz had already assumed the throne. Nawruz did not award the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir to Muscovite prince Dmitry Ivanovich (later known as "Donskoy"), but to Dmitry Konstantinovich of Suzdal , the prince of Nizhny Novgorod–Suzdal , nephew of Alexander of Suzdal who previously held it (before Ivan I "Kalita" of Moscow ). Dmitry Konstantinovich was part of

6020-462: The well-being of the khan and his family. In modern Mongolian the term ( Mongolian : зарлиг , romanized :  zarlig ) is used to refer to official edicts. In Russian culture the word means a label , rarely a price tag . An icon shortcut in modern graphical user interfaces is also called this way. As an example of a reborrowing , the word also re-entered the Mongolian language with

6106-451: Was able to curb the Lithuanian advance. This allowed him to regroup in the Crimea, suppress local opposition (by besieging Solkhat), and eventually to make another attempt on Sarai. In 1367 Mamai took advantage of (and possibly engineered) the murder of Khan ʿAzīz Shaykh to reinstall Khan ʿAbdallāh at Sarai. However, Mamai was unable to enjoy his success for long. His rival Ḥājjī Cherkes, ruler of Astrakhan , struck at Mamai's power base in

6192-399: Was distracted with defending Astrakhan, his protégé Ūljāy-Timur lost the throne of Sarai to Ḥasan Beg (1368–1369), a nephew of the earlier khan Khayr-Pūlād, and thus a descendant of Jochi's son Shiban. Mamai was determined to recover control of Sarai. He captured and executed the exiled Ūljāy-Timur and in 1369 managed to expel Ḥasan Beg from the city, once more enthroning Khan ʿAbdallāh. When

6278-470: Was expelled by Khayr-Pūlād (or Mīr-Pūlād, 1363–1364), and he by ʿAzīz Shaykh (1364–1367). All three were descendants of Jochi's son Shiban. Mamai's inability to hold Sarai in 1362 is possibly to be attributed with his preoccupation with his western front, where the Lithuanians had inflicted a defeat on the representatives of the Golden Horde at the Battle of Blue Waters . Despite some territorial losses, Mamai

6364-503: Was forced to fight, perishing in the engagement. Much of Mamai's force failed to engage before a Russian ambush regimen turned the tide of the battle definitively in Dmitrij's favor. Mamai's forces routed and he fled the battlefield, leaving it in the hands of Dmitrij, who was later called Donskoj ("of the Don") in memory of his victory. While Mamai was concentrating on Russian affairs, a descendant of Jochi's son Togai-Buqa named Tokhtamysh

6450-421: Was forced to yield Sarai to Tokhtamysh , the eventual nemesis of both Urus Khan and Mamai. After the ejection of Mamai's protégé Muḥammad-Sulṭān from Sarai in 1374, apart from a possible brief occupation of the city in either 1375 or 1376, Mamai and his puppet khans no longer controlled the traditional capital of the Golden Horde. Nevertheless, they still exercised authority in the lands north, west, and south of

6536-425: Was given an honorable burial by order of Tokhtamysh. The death of Mamai paved the way for Tokhtamysh to attempt the reunification of the Golden Horde. Mamai's son Mansur Kiyat entered the service of Tokhtamysh; his son Aleksandr, who had converted to Christianity, entered the service of Vytautas of Lithuania and was made prince of Glinsk with multiple estates around the modern city of Poltava ( Ukraine ). This

6622-465: Was killed in 1359 in a coup by his brother Qulpa . Qulpa's two sons were Christians and bore the Slavic names Michael and Ivan, which outraged the Muslim populace of the Golden Horde. In 1360, Qulpa's brother Nawruz Beg (Navruz) revolted against the khan and killed him and his sons. When Rus' princes heard of Berdi Beg's death, they had begun travelling to Sarai to receive patents from his successor, but by

6708-456: Was named Urus, which means "Russian" in the Turkish language , presumably because "Urus-Khan's mother was a Russian princess... he was prepared to press his claims on Russia on that ground." In 1361, a descendant of Shiban (5th son of Jochi ), was invited by some grandees to seize the throne. Khidr rebelled against Nawruz, whose own lieutenant betrayed him and handed him over to be executed. Khidr

6794-538: Was not a Chingisid (descendant of Genghis Khan ), Mamai had no legitimate claim to the throne, and instead used Chingisid puppet-khans to exercise political control. The Rus' principalities and neighbouring states frequently changed their allegiancies at this time, joining forces with or against various Mongol factions and with or against each other, in tactical efforts to exploit rapidly shifting situations. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania as well as Horde vassals such as Tver and Muscovy were opportunistic in profiting from

6880-426: Was not a descendant of Genghis Khan and Jochi in the male line, he assumed the role of kingmaker, promoting and supporting Jochid khans of his own choosing from a base in the Crimea and the western portion of Golden Horde. With Mamai's help, these khans sought to establish themselves at the capital Sarai, albeit with intermittent success. The precise origin of Mamai's protégés is nowhere stated clearly, and there has been

6966-454: Was now forced to oppose Tokhtamysh on the Kalka River . Perhaps at the head of larger and better-rested forces, Mamai could hope for victory. However, he now lacked a legitimate khan to use as his protégé, and at any rate Tokhtamysh had already begun to suborn some of Mamai's emirs. In the resulting battle , many of Mamai's commanders deserted to Tokhtamysh together with their troops. Mamai fled

7052-582: Was received with honor in Genoese Caffa . To maintain his good relations with the Genoese, Mamai went as far as to ignore their seizure of Soldaia from the Prince of Gothia , one of his vassals. After his loss of Sarai in 1374, Mamai became more concerned about these Genoese gains in the Crimea, confiscated Soldaia and other settlements that had been taken over by the Genoese, and proceeded to fortify his administrative center at Solkhat. Mamai may have shown favor to

7138-401: Was refused admittance: the population and the governor, Qutluq-Buqa, did not want to provoke Tokhtamysh. Besides, the governor hoped to preserve his position under the new ruler, while the populace resented the heavy taxes Mamai had levied to fortify the city. At the end of 1380 or the beginning of 1381, the agents of Tokhtamysh caught up with Mamai outside Solkhat and killed him. Nevertheless, he

7224-557: Was rising to power in the east. Having already challenged his cousin Urus Khan, he sought the protection and support of Timur (Tamerlane), and then proceeded to replace Urus' sons as ruler of the former Ulus of Orda by 1379. In early 1380, Tokhtamysh was able to advance on Sarai and to obtain the submission and abdication of Khan ʿArab Shāh. The advance of Tokhtamysh, and his continued success (he conquered Astrakhan later in 1380), sabotaged Mamai's hopes of avenging his defeat at Kulikovo. Mamai

7310-510: Was slain by his own son, Timur Khwaja, in the same year. Timur Khwaja reigned for only five weeks before descendants of Öz Beg Khan seized power. In 1362, the Golden Horde was divided between Keldi Beg in Sarai, Bulat Temir in Volga Bulgaria , and Abdullah in Crimea . Meanwhile, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania attacked the western tributaries of the Golden Horde and conquered Kyiv and Podolia after

7396-478: Was to use gold obtained in long distance trade with India to mint coins for commerce with the Italians. Early in his political career, Mamai may have assisted in the diplomatic initiative that secured the liberation of the Metropolitan Aleksej from Lithuanian captivity, and his return to Moscow in 1360. Even while ejected from Sarai in 1363, Mamai, in the name of his puppet khan ʿAbdallāh, sought to secure

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