GOLDEN HORDE

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 209 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GOLDEN HORDE , the name of a

body

BODY

Tatars

TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)

who in the middle of the 13th century overran a

great

GREAT

portion of eastern Europe and founded in Russia the Tatar empire of khanate known as the Empire of the Golden

Horde

HORDE

or Western Kipchaks. They invaded Europe about 1237 under the leadership of Bata Khan, a younger son of Juji, eldest son of Jenghiz Khan, passed over Russia with slaughter and destruction, and penetrated into Silesia, Poland and Hungary, finally defeating Henry II., duke of Silesia, at

Liegnitz

LIEGNITZ

in the battle known as the Wahlstatt on the 9th of April 1241. So costly was this victory, however, that Bata, finding he could not reduce Neustadt, retraced his steps and established himself in his magnificent tent (whence the name " golden") on the

Volga

VOLGA (known to the
Tatars
- TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)
as Etil, Jill or Atel; to the Finnish tribes as Rau, and to the ancients as Rha and Oarus)

. The new settlement was known as Sir Orda (" Golden Camp," whence " Golden

Horde

HORDE

"). Very rapidly the powers of Bata extended over the Russian princes, and so long as the khanate remained in the direct descent from Bata nothing occurred to check the growth of the empire. The names of Bata's successors are Sartak (1256), Bereke (Baraka) (1256-1266), Manga-Timar (1266-128o), Tada Manga (1280-1287), (?) Tala Bugha (1287-1290), Toktu (1290-1312), Uzbeg (1312-1340), Tin-Beg (1340), Jani-Beg (1340-1357). The death of Jani-Beg, however, threw the empire into confusion. Birch-Beg (Berdi-Beg) only reigned for two years, after which two rulers, calling themselves sons of Jani-Beg occupied the throne during one year. From that time (1359) till 1378 no single ruler held the whole empire under

control

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

, various members of the other branches of the old

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Juji assuming the title. At last in 1378 Toktamish, of the Eastern Kipchaks, succeeded in ousting all rivals, and establishing himself as ruler of eastern and western Kipchak. For a short time the

glory

GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

of the Golden Horde was renewed, until it was finally crushed by Pimur in 1395
See further MONGOLS and Russia; Sir Henry Howorth's History of the Mongols; S. Lane-Poole's Mohammadan Dynasties (1894), pp. 222-231; for the relations of the various descendants of Jenghiz, see Stockvis, Manuel d'histoire, vol. i. chap. ix. table 7.

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