The Golden Horde

1
The Golden Horde

• Matt Below
• Geog 308
• Prof. Zoltan Grossman
• 4-23-04

2
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
3
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
4
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

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Mongolian Yurts
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Mongolian Yurts

• Advantages of Yurts
• Easily set up
• Easily taken down
• Easily transported
• Light-weight

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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
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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
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Extent of Golden Horde Territories
http//www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/m
ongol1.html
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Batu Khan

• 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

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Orda Khan

• 1226-1280
• Leader of the White Horde
• Brother of Batu
• Along with brother, formed Golden Horde

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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

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Conquests of the Golden Horde
http//www.friesian.com/mongol.htm
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The Golden Horde

• Highly advanced military
• Very skilled at siege-craft
• Contracted Middle Eastern and Chinese engineers
  to build siege devices
• Catapults
• Battering rams

www.allempires.com/empires/ mongol/mongol1.htm
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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
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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
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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
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Extent of Golden Horde Territories
http//www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/m
ongol1.html
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Communication by Mongols

• Mongols on horseback relay messages
• Called orto
• Similar to Pony Express

http//www.apolyton.net/ron/factsheets/images/nati
ons/mongol.gif
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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

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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
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Golden Horde Trade

• Free trade allowed throughout the empire
• Controlled Silk Road
• Trade route
• 1000s of miles long
• Linked Russia, Mongolia, China, and India

• http//www.tourcn.com/images/silk-road-map-1-s.gif

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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
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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

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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

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References

• 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.h
  tm 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.htmgolden Friesan
• http//countrystudies.us/mongolia/21.htm Country
  Studies
• kaikhan.tripod.com/ GoldenHistory.htm Tripod