The Golden Horde
Matt Below
Geog 308
Prof. Zoltan Grossman
4-23-04
Who Where the Mongols?
• Tatar people
• Were once nomads
• Lived in area of
Northern China, part
of what is now
Mongolia
• Made contact with
Marco Polo
members.tripod.com/.../ costumes/costume.html
Who Where the Mongols?
• One of the most
feared groups in
history
• Highly advanced
culture
• Traveled mostly
during winter months
• Ambitious conquerors
www.alphalink.com.au/.../ EarlyMedieval.html
The Golden Horde
• Dubbed “Golden Horde” because of bright
military tents- from fires inside
• Led and ruled by Khans
– Khan- supreme ruler (Turkish for Chief)
• Khans always chosen from “Golden
Family”
Mongolian Yurts
Mongolian Yurts
• Advantages of Yurts:
– Easily set up
– Easily taken down
– Easily transported
– Light-weight
Beginning of the Golden Horde
• Mongol leader
Temujin wills himself
supreme ruler
• Assumes title of
Genghis Khan
• Established the
“Golden Family”
• Blue Horde and White
Horde unite to form
the Golden Horde
www.bookpalace.com/ UKWI/index_2.htm
Genghis Khan
• 1206-1227
• Feared throughout Asia
and Europe
• Began first conquests of
China
• Took capital of Peking
(now Beijing)
• Seized control of entire
Chinese empire
– Stretched from Volga River
to the Pacific Ocean
www.carpenoctem.tv/ military/khan.html
Extent of Golden Horde Territories
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html
Batu Khan
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1227-1256
Grandson of Genghis
Leader of Blue Horde
Second khan of the Golden Horde
Emphasized boundary expansion
Took Moscow, Kiev, Hungary, Poland, parts of
Germany
• Longest ruling khan in history of the Golden
Horde
Orda Khan
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1226-1280
Leader of the White Horde
Brother of Batu
Along with brother, formed Golden Horde
Timur Khan
• Last ruler of the Golden Horde
• Broke into 3 separate Tatar tribes
– 3 khanates
– Astrakhan, Kazan, and the Crimea
• Partly due to Central Russia becoming
much more powerful
• Assimilated into Islamic Turkic rule, rather
than Russian Christian
• Golden Horde fades into history
Conquests of the Golden Horde
http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm
The Golden Horde
• Highly advanced
military
• Very skilled at siegecraft
– Contracted Middle
Eastern and Chinese
engineers to build
siege devices
• Catapults
• Battering rams
www.allempires.com/empires/ mongol/mongol1.htm
Some Siege Techniques
• Begin a siege on a
fortified city, then fall back
• Enemies would believe
Mongols were retreating
• Enemy opens gates in
pursuit of Mongol soldiers
• Mongols ambush
opponents, siege city
ron.heavengames.com/.../ mongol/mongol.shtml
Siege Techniques
• If conventional means
did not work
• Mongols broke dikes
and levees of nearby
rivers and lakes
• Created floods
• Flood either
destroyed walls of the
city or forced the
enemy to surrender
www.allempires.com/empires/ mongol/mongol1.htm
Battlefield Warfare
• Skilled horsemen
– Had small, stout ponies
– Treated them with extreme
care
• Cavalry moved on
horseback with
astonishing speed
• Rode standing up and
used stirrups
• Allowed them to fire
arrows in any direction
www.allempires.com/empires/ mongol/mongol1.htm
Extent of Golden Horde Territories
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html
Communication by Mongols
• Mongols on
horseback relay
messages
• Called “orto”
• Similar to Pony
Express
http://www.apolyton.net/ron/factsheets/images/nations/mongol.gif
The Golden Horde
• Spoke Mongol, Arabic, Tatar languages
• State religion was Islam, but allowed for religious
freedom throughout entire empire
• Derived postal systems and censuses
• Allowed free-trade throughout the entire empire
(even conquered peoples)
• Vast contacts across Europe and Asia
• Golden Horde greatly pushed their imperial
power, but not their ethnicity or religious beliefs
Mongol Artwork
• Many pieces considered
ancient Chinese were
either influenced by or
made by Mongols
• Absorbed Chinese,
Indian, Middle Eastern art
styles after conquering
the people
• Mongol soldiers carved
elaborate designs on
saddles, bows and
arrows
•www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/ 03/hm3_5_13d.html
http://www.weatherburyfarm.com/nigel_tudor.htm
Golden Horde Trade
• Free trade allowed
throughout the empire
• Controlled “Silk Road”
– Trade route
– 1000’s of miles long
– Linked Russia,
Mongolia, China, and
India
•http://www.tourcn.com/images/silk-road-map-1-s.gif
The Golden Horde
• Feared by nearly all
people familiar with
them
• Portrayed as ruthless
cannibals
– European artwork
showed Mongols as
unhuman, beastly
www.allempires.com/empires/ mongol/mongol1.htm
The Golden Horde
• Actually quite opposite
• Then, the Mongols were more tolerant of
different races and religions than many
nations are today
• Treated all territories equally as part of
empire
• Did not assimilate conquered peoples into
the Mongol culture
The Golden Horde Vassal Policy
• Vassal- territory of conquered people under
Mongol rule
• After conquering, left diplomats and
representative behind to control people
• Only attacked vassals if they rebelled
• If the Vassals rebelled, Mongols armies would
destroy their cities and everyone/everything in it
• The Golden Horde rulers would have everyone
killed before they would discriminate against
them
References
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http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm- The Mongol Khans
http://www.pcug.org.au/~ronwells/450-9.htm Ancient Ancestors
http://www.allempires.com/empires/mongol/mongol1.htm All Empires
www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/ 03/hm3_5_13d.html The State
Hermitage
www.bookpalace.com/ UKWI/index_2.htm Book Place
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ba/BatuKhan.html Bartelby.com
http://www.friesan.com/mongol.htm#golden Friesan
http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/21.htm Country Studies
kaikhan.tripod.com/ GoldenHistory.htm Tripod