Blue Horde
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The Blue Horde (Kazakh: Көк Орда/Kök Orda, Tatar: Күк Урда/Kük Urda, Turkish:Gök Ordu/Orda) was one of the khanates (within the Mongol Empire) formed around 1227,[1] after the death of Genghis Khan and subsequent division of his empire. It was the eastern constituent part of the Golden Horde (the western part was the White Horde).[2][3]
Its first ruler was Batu Khan, son of Jochi. Apart from his brother Berke Khan, the fourth khan of the Blue Horde, all the succeeding Khans remained from Batu's line until Toqtamysh, khan of the eastern White Horde, united the two, forming a single Golden Horde in the 1380s.
After the invasion of Europe, in addition to the Blue Horde, three other khanates within the empire were formed - The White Horde commanded by Orda Khan, a Khanate around Siberia commanded by Shayban and a Khanate on the upper reaches of the Volga river centered around Volga Bulgaria commanded by Toga-Timur. All these were brothers of Batu, who claimed some sort of supremacy over them (even though Orda was the eldest). Batu asserted his control over the Russian principalities after sacking the cities of Vladimir in 1238 and Kiev in 1240, forcing them to pay annual tribute and accept his nominations as princes. Starting with the conversion of Berke to Islam, the Blue Horde made a traditional alliance with the Mamluks of Egypt against their common rival, the Il-Khans.
From the 1280s until 1299, the Blue Horde was effectively under the control of two khans, the legitimate khans and Nogai Khan, a warlord and kingmaker, who made an alliance with the Byzantine Empire and invaded countries bordering the Blue Horde, particularly in the Balkans. Nogai's pre-eminence was ended by the assertion of the legitimate Khan Toqta, and the Blue Horde reached the apex of its power and prosperity during the reigns of Uzbeg Khan (Öz Beg) and his son Jani Beg in the middle of the 14th century, when it intervened in the affairs of the disintegrating Ilkhanate.
The Blue Horde remained strong from its foundation (Around 1240) until the 1350s. At its peak, the Khanate had an army as large as 300,000-500,000 and exacted tribute from every Russian principality save the Polatskian principalities that chose to ally with Lithuania.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Far East Kingdoms
- ^ Edward L. Keenan, Encyclopedia Americana article
- ^ B.D. Grekov and A.Y. Yakubovski "The Golden Horde and its Downfall"
[edit] Additional reading
- Boris Grekov and Alexander Yakubovski, "The Golden Horde and its Downfall".
- George Vernadsky, "The Mongols and Russia".
