In terms of the vastness of the territory, the Golden Horde was the largest state formation of the Middle Ages. The state of the descendants of Jochi included the entire Great Steppe from the Danube in the west to the Irtysh in the east; the whole state (Ulug Ulus, that is, "Great Ulus") was divided into two wings - left (Kok-Orda) and right (Ak-Orda) and into many smaller appanages-possessions, also called ulus or hordes. The possessions of all princes from the house of Jochi were subject to the Golden Horde Khan; but this submission did not always have real meaning.
In particular, the descendants of the Horde, the eldest son of Jochi, the rulers of the Kok-Horde (Eastern Horde) only nominally recognized the power of the khan who was sitting in Sarai over themselves. “From the very beginning, there was no case,” says Rashid ad-Din in the Collection of Chronicles (the work was written between 1300-1307), “that someone from the Horde clan who took his place; how they are distant from each other, and also are independent sovereigns of their ulus. But they had such a habit that they consider the one who is Batu's deputy as their sovereign and ruler, and they write their names at the top of their labels (Rashid ad-Din. T. 2. P. 66).
Nominally, the rulers of the Kok-Orda, centered in the city of Sygnak, on the Syr Darya, demonstrated political loyalty to the khans of the Golden Horde in the first half of the 14th century. As far as is known, during this time only once, during the reign of Mubarak-Khoja, the ruler of Kok-Horde made an attempt to become an independent sovereign: he allowed himself to mint coins in 728/1327–1328, 729/1328–1329 in Sygnak with the title: "Sultan just Mubarak Ho [ja], may God prolong his kingdom."
The minting of a coin, which at that time was the prerogative of a sovereign ruler, could not but meet with protest from the Khan of the Golden Horde, who was considered the supreme head of the entire Juchiev Ulus. The desire of the Golden Horde Khan Uzbek (1313–1341) to return the descendants of the Horde to their former vassal dependence and the opposition of the latter, in search of political independence, caused a disturbance (bulgak), which, according to Muin ad-Din Natanzi, Timurid author of the early 15th century, “before is still known in Desht-i Kipchak”. In this struggle, the ruler of the Kok-Horde Mubarak-Khoja was defeated by the Golden Horde Khan, fled and wandered for several years in the lands and countries of the Kyrgyz and Altai, until he died there.
A few remarks should be made here about Jochid Uzbek Khan. G. A. Fedorov-Davydov, V. P. Yudin, V. L. Egorov talk about the illegal seizure of the supreme power by Uzbek Khan and directly call him "usurper." The definition, of course, is very effective, but it is not only incorrect in essence, but even raising such a question in relation to Chingizid is inappropriate.
The fact is that, according to the concept of the supreme power of the medieval Mongols, any representative of the "golden clan" of Genghis Khan had the right to the kingdom if he was recognized by the majority of the Altans of the Urug as worthy of his qualities and approved at the kurultai of princes and the highest aristocracy. Further. Both in the Mongol Empire itself and in the uluses-states formed after its collapse, there were several (4-5) orders of succession of supreme power, each of which was recognized by the political tradition as correct and the question of the preference of one or another of the orders was decided each time taking into account the specific circumstances. Therefore, as V. V. Bartold rightly noted, the discussion of the question of which of the Chingizids in one or another case had more rights to the throne and whether the election of this or that khan was legal is not correct.
V. P. Yudin, interpreting the legendary news from "Chingiz-name" by Utemish-hajji, a Khiva storyteller of the 16th century, calls Uzbek Khan a "false chingizid". However, such a statement contradicts the entire history of the Golden Horde established to this day. According to the ancient Mongolian concept of power, any nechingizid claiming the rank of khan was recognized not just as an ordinary state criminal, but as a rebel against the will of the Eternal Heaven and was subject to immediate execution, and this rule was strictly valid during the time of Uzbek Khan. Further. The genealogy of Uzbek Khan is well known to us from a reliable source - "Collection of Chronicles" by Rashid ad-Din; moreover, it is confirmed both by the news of the Arab ambassadors to the Golden Horde and travelers of the XIV century, and Timurid authors of the XV century. Here is the genealogy of Uzbek Khan in the transmission of Rashid ad-Din, a contemporary of the khan:Uzbek Khan is the son of Togrylch, the ninth son of Munk-Timur, the second son of Tukan, the second son of Batu, the second son of Jochi, the first son of Genghis Khan (Rashid ad-Din. Vol. 2. P. 72–73).
Uzbek Khan was fluent in Mongolian and Turkic languages. Muslim authors characterize him as a man of handsome appearance, excellent disposition, distinguished by valor and courage, combined with discernment, respect for the laws and regulations of Genghis Khan (yasa wa yusun).
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The coming to power of the young prince Uzbek was prepared by those circles of the Chingizids and the Turkic-Mongolian nomadic aristocracy who stood for the Islamization and centralization of the state. The Uzbek Khan fully justified their hopes. Without going into details, let us note here only three circumstances of the reign of Uzbek Khan.
1. In 1321, Uzbek Khan converted to Islam, and at the same time the Muslim name - Muhammad, began to be called Sultan Muhammad Uzbek Khan and declared Islam the official religion of the Golden Horde state (for more details, see below).
2. In Muslim sources, when describing the events of 1335 in the Golden Horde, the word Uzbeks (Uzbeks, Uzbeks) and the phrase Mamlakat-i Uzbeks (the state of Uzbeks) first appear. Gradually, the name of the Muslim ruler of the Golden Horde, Uzbek Khan, became the collective name of the multi-tribal population of Dzhuchiev Ulus.
3. Under the reign of Uzbek Khan, there is a strengthening of the khan's power, an increase in political centralization, the emergence of new cities, one of which was Sarai al-Jadid (its remnants are located in the village of Tsarev, Volgograd region), which became the second capital of the Golden Horde state. Uzbek Khan, a Sunni Muslim, was buried just in Sarai al-Jadid, destroyed in 1395 by the troops of Emir Timur.
In the Golden Horde, the khan's power was also strong enough during the reign of Uzbek's son, Janibek Khan (1342-1357). After Janibek, his son Berdibek (1357-1359) was established on the throne. He was power hungry and distinguished by extreme cruelty. According to the author of "Muntahab at-tavarih-i Muini" (1413) and "Muizz al-ansab" (1426), Berdibek, having become a khan, killed most of the princes of the Juchiev Ulus, who were close relatives to him. It is reported that his only brother, who was only eight months old, was brought in by the khansha (queen) Taidula-khatun and asked him to spare this innocent child. Berdibek took him, hit the ground and killed him.
The policy of physical destruction of the sultans (since the XIV century in the Jochi Ulus and in the Chagatai ulus, the word sultan became the title of every representative of the dynasty descended from Genghis Khan) led to the fact that after the death of Berdibek in 1359, there were no representatives of the Jochid branch leading their kinship in a straight line from Batu. A period of unrest and palace coups begins in the Golden Horde: in the 60s – 70s. XIV century. power in the state of the descendants of Jochi was seized by many, and some of them ruled for six months, others for a year, only some for two, at most three years. In this struggle for supreme power in the Ulus Jochi, the descendants of the Horde and Tukai-Timur, that is, the sultans of the Kok-Horde (Eastern Horde), took an active part, gradually capturing Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, for a longer and longer period.
In the course of these political troubles, several independent dominions were formed on the territory of the Dzhuchiev Ulus, at the head of which were local rulers who ruled simultaneously with the khan who was sitting in Sarai. So, around 1359, on the territory of the Prut-Dniester interfluve, which was the outskirts of the western ulus of the Golden Horde, a new political unit was formed - the Moldavian principality. The political situation in the country led to territorial losses in the southeast as well. In particular, in 1361 a dynasty, independent of the Golden Horde, arose in Khorezm, called the Sufi, after the founder of the Husain dynasty Sufi from the Turkic Mongolian tribe Kungrat; these rulers minted coins without their names, with only one Arabic inscription: al-mulk li-llahi ("the power belongs to God"). The further fate of Khorezm was as follows. In 1379it was conquered by Emir Timur, but in the early eighties of the XIV century. Toktamysh Khan reunited Khorezm with the Volga region. However, in 1388 Timur conquered Khorezm again. In the XV century. Khorezm was either in the possession of the khans of the Golden Horde, or in the possession of the Timurids, or in the possession of the local Sufi dynasty. At the beginning of the 16th century. the country passed into the possession of the Shibanids, descendants of Shiban, son of Jochi, and the Khiva Khanate was formed there.
After the death of Berdibek, the last Golden Horde khan from the house of Batu, the sultans of Kok-Orda also separated from the Golden Horde, whose power extended to all the southeastern borders of the Dzhuchiev Ulus. The Western Horde (Ak-Orda) split into several independent parts: the Lower Volga region was controlled by the Sarai khans, the Black Sea region and the Crimea - by the emir Mamai, Volga Bulgaria - by Tsarevich Bulat-Timur, and then by Asan, etc.
In the mid-seventies of the XIV century. the head of the Kok-Horde (Eastern Horde) Urus-khan (died 1377) acted as the unifier of the entire Dzhuchiev Ulus. Although he managed to capture the capital of the Golden Horde, the city of Sarai, he failed to retain the supreme power and in 777 / 1375-1376 he returned to the banks of the Syr Darya, to his indigenous possessions. What Urus Khan, a descendant of the Horde, did not manage to do, he did in the eighties of the XIV century. another representative of the Kok-Orda is the young Mangyshlak prince Toktamysh, a descendant of Tukai-Timur, the son of Jochi.
In 1378, Toktamysh Sultan, with the support of the ruler of Central Asia, Emir Timur, was elevated to the khan throne in the city of Sygnak (on the Syr Darya), the capital of the princes of Kok-Orda (the left wing of the Jochiev Ulus). From there, Toktamysh went to war with the pretenders to the Golden Horde throne (and again with the support of Emir Timur), took possession of the capital of the Golden Horde. Soon he managed to unite all the possessions of the Jochids into one whole and restore a strong khan's power in the country. Toktamysh had the imprudence to go to war with his former protégé, Emir Timur, and this war, which lasted for several years, ended in 1395 with the complete defeat and overthrow of the Golden Horde Khan. Toktamysh never again returned to the throne of the entire Ulus of Jochi, and he died, according to some reports - in 1404, according to others - in 1406, near Tyumen (Turk, "lowland";so was also called at that time the area in the lower reaches of the river. Terek), during the battle with the troops of the Golden Horde Khan Shadibek.
At the beginning of the XV century. several more unifiers of the Dzhuchiev Ulus spoke out. However, after Toktamysh, no one else managed to achieve power that would be recognized in the entire Jochi Ulus. Moreover, after the thirties of the XV century. The Golden Horde state with its center on the lower Volga finally disintegrated and several new Turkic states were formed on its ruins: the Crimean Khanate, the Kazan Khanate, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Siberian Khanate, the Kazakh Khanate, as well as a number of other political units - the Big Horde (in the steppes between the Volga and the Dnieper), Nogai Horde (centered in the lower reaches of the Yaik).
The historical fate of all the above-mentioned political formations turned out to be closely connected with the fate of Russia - Russia, which, in the second half of the 15th century. completely freed from the Mongol-Tatar yoke, in the 16th century it turned into a strong state with the center in Moscow. Russia's interaction with the political heirs of the Golden Horde state led to the fact that all of them (each at one time) were included in the Russian state. Here is the main chronology of this inclusion and the gradual transformation of the Muscovite kingdom into a multinational and poly-confessional Russian state with vast Asian possessions to the east, south and southeast of the core of the Russian state proper.
On October 2, 1552, after a two-month siege, Russian troops led by Ivan the Terrible occupied Kazan, and the independent existence of the Kazan Khanate ended, the founder of which is considered Juchid Ulug-Muhammad Khan (d. 1446). The liquidation of the Kazan Khanate, which was in contact with the eastern borders of the Muscovite kingdom, predetermined the fate of the Astrakhan Khanate, a country ruled by the descendants of Tukai-Timur, the son of Jochi. In August 1556, Astrakhan (actually - Hajji-Tarkhan) was conquered by Russian troops, and the Astrakhan Khanate ceased to exist.
So in 1552-1556. the entire Middle and Lower Volga region was annexed to Russia and the so-called Kazan order was created to manage this new territory - an institution that was in charge of all administrative, military, financial, and judicial issues in the annexed possessions.
On August 20, 1598, the Russians inflicted a decisive defeat on Kuchum, a descendant of Shiban, the son of Jochi, the last "Tatar" khan of Siberia, and included the Siberian Khanate with its capital in Isker (near the confluence of the Tobol and the Irtysh) into the Moscow state. The management of the new territory - Zatsad Siberia - was also entrusted to the Kazan order. At the beginning of the XVII century. the end of the political independence of the Nogai, whose center was the city of Saraichik (literally: Small Saray), founded by the Jochids in the second half of the 13th century. at the mouth of the Yaik. The immediate neighbor of the Russian state in the southeast is now the Kazakh Khanate, founded in 875 / 1470-1471 by two sultans, Girey and Janibek, descendants of the Horde, the eldest son of Jochi.
Of all the ethnopolitical formations of the Jochids of the post-Golden Horde period, it was the state of the Kazakh sultans, as well as the Crimean Khanate, that existed the longest. The end of the dominion in the Crimea of the Girey dynasty (named after its founder Hajji-Girey, a descendant of Tukai-Timur, son of Jochi) and the annexation of the peninsula to the Russian Empire date back to 1783; one of the last khans, Shagin-Girey, was executed by the Turks on the island of Rhodes in 1787, and the last of the Gireys, who bore the title of khan, Bakht-Girey, died in January 1801 on the island of Mytilene in the Mediterranean Sea. The accession of Kazakhstan to Russia, which began in the thirties of the 18th century, for a number of reasons dragged on for many decades and ended only in the sixties of the 19th century.
It is noteworthy that the expansion of the sphere of the Russian state to the south (up to the Black Sea and the Caucasus inclusively), east (up to the Pacific Ocean) and southeast (up to Central Asia and Kazakhstan inclusive) was accompanied by a powerful migration flow of the Russian population to new lands. So from the second half of the XVI century. the era of Russian multinational and poly-confessional statehood begins, and at the same time a new experience of military-political, socio-economic, etc. integration of the Eurasian space - the Russian-Turkic (XVI-XX centuries), instead of the former Mongol-Turkic (XIII-XV centuries.).
Sultanov T.