Founder and first Khan of the Golden Horde (r. 1227?1255)
Batu Khan
(
c.
1205
?1255)
[note 1]
was a
Mongol
ruler and founder of the
Golden Horde
, a constituent of the
Mongol Empire
. Batu was a son of
Jochi
, thus a grandson of
Genghis Khan
. His
ulus
ruled over the
Kievan Rus'
,
Volga Bulgaria
,
Cumania
, and the
Caucasus
for around 250 years.
Personality and appearance
According to
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine
, Batu was "kind enough to his own people, but he is greatly feared by them. He is, however, most cruel in fight; he is very shrewd and extremely crafty in warfare, for he has been waging war for a long time."
He received the nickname of
сайн
(
lit.
'
good
'
), by which he was referred to by
Marco Polo
.
[2]
William of Rubruck
described him as about the height of his lord John de Beaumont and as having his entire face covered with reddish spots.
Early years
After his son
Jochi
's death,
Genghis Khan
assigned Jochi's
appanages
to his sons. The
Great Khan
installed Batu as Khan of the
Golden Horde
(also known as the Ulus of Jochi or
Kipchak Khanate
). Jochi's eldest son,
Orda Khan
, also agreed that Batu should succeed their father. Genghis Khan's youngest brother
Temuge
attended the coronation ceremony as an official representative of Genghis.
[4]
When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he left 4,000 Mongol men to Jochi's family. Jochi's lands were divided between Batu and his older brother
Orda
. Orda's
White Horde
ruled the lands roughly between the
Volga
river and
Lake Balkhash
, while Batu's Golden Horde ruled the lands west of the Volga.
In 1229,
Ogedei
dispatched three
tumens
under Kukhdei and Sundei to conquer the tribes on the lower
Ural River
. According to
Abulghazi
, Batu joined Ogedei's
military campaign
against the
Jin dynasty
in
North China
while his younger brother was fighting the
Bashkirs
, the
Cumans
, the
Bulghars
and the
Alans
in the west. Despite heavy resistance from their enemies, the Mongols conquered major cities of the
Jurchens
and made the Bashkirs their ally. In the 1230s, Ogedei distributed lands in
Shanxi
to Batu and the family of Jochi, but they appointed their officials under the supervision of the Imperial governor, and likewise in
Khorasan
.
[5]
Conquest of Kievan Rus'
At the
kurultai
in
Mongolia
after the end of the
Mongol-Jin War
, the Great Khan
Ogedei
ordered Batu to conquer western nations. In 1235 Batu, who earlier had directed the conquest of the
Crimean Peninsula
, was assigned an army of possibly 130,000
[
citation needed
]
to oversee an invasion of Europe. His relatives and cousins
Guyuk
,
Buri
,
Mongke
, Khulgen,
Khadan
,
Baidar
and notable Mongol generals
Subutai
(Subeedei),
Borolday
, and Mengguser joined him by the order of his uncle Ogedei. The army, actually commanded by
Subutai
, crossed the
Volga
and invaded
Volga Bulgaria
in 1236. It took them a year to extinguish the resistance of the
Volga Bulgarians
,
Kypchaks
, and
Alani
.
[
citation needed
]
In November 1237 Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of
Yuri II
of
Vladimir-Suzdal
and demanded his allegiance. When Yuri refused to surrender the Mongols besieged
Ryazan
. After six days of bloody battle, the city was totally annihilated and never restored to its former glory. Alarmed by the news, Yuri II sent his sons to detain the horde, but they were soundly defeated. Having burnt
Kolomna
and Moscow, the horde laid siege to the capital of
Vladimir-Suzdal
on 4 February 1238. Three days later the city was taken and burnt to the ground. The royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince hastily retreated northward. Crossing the
Volga
, he mustered a new army, which was totally exterminated by the Mongols
on the Sit' River
on 4 March.
[
citation needed
]
Thereupon Batu Khan divided his army into smaller units, which ransacked fourteen Rus' cities:
Rostov
,
Uglich
,
Yaroslavl
,
Kostroma
,
Kashin
,
Ksnyatin
,
Gorodets
,
Galich
,
Pereslavl-Zalessky
,
Yuriev-Polsky
,
Dmitrov
,
Volokolamsk
,
Tver
, and
Torzhok
. The most difficult to take was the small town of
Kozelsk
, whose boy-prince Titus and inhabitants resisted the Mongols for seven weeks. As the story goes, at the news of Mongol approach, the city of
Kitezh
was submerged in a lake with all its inhabitants, where it may be seen to this day. Khadan and Buri stormed the city in three days after they joined Batu. The only major cities to escape destruction were
Smolensk
, which submitted to the Mongols and agreed to pay tribute, and
Novgorod
with
Pskov
, which could not be reached by the Mongols on account of considerable distance and the intervening
marshlands
.
[
citation needed
]
When Batu drank a cup of wine before the others at the victory banquet,
Buri
complained of the unfairness of Batu receiving such a vast and fertile steppe, and the Mongol army, along with
Guyuk
and others, ridiculed Batu as an "old woman with a beard".
[
citation needed
]
They then left the banquet. Batu sent an envoy to his uncle Ogedei to complain of his cousins' rude behavior. Ogedei got angry on hearing the news and recalled Buri and Guyuk. According to some sources,
[
which?
]
Buri, who was sent to his grandfather Chagatai, never returned to join the Mongol conquest of Europe; Guyuk returned to the Russian steppe after his father Ogedei harshly criticized him.
[
citation needed
]
In the summer of 1238, Batu Khan devastated the
Crimea
and pacified
Mordovia
and the
Kipchak
-controlled
steppe
. In the winter of 1239, he sacked
Chernigov
and
Pereyaslav
. After several days of siege,
the Mongols stormed
Kiev
in December 1240. Despite fierce resistance by
Danylo of Halych
,
[
citation needed
]
Batu Khan managed to take the two principal capitals of his land,
Halych
and
Volodymyr
. Ruthenian principalities became
vassals
of the
Mongol Empire
.
[
citation needed
]
Invasion of Central Europe
The
Cuman
refugees
took shelter in the
Kingdom of Hungary
. Batu sent at least five messengers to
Bela IV
, the King of Hungary, but they were all killed. For the last time Batu demanded that Bela have the Cumans returned and warned: "It is much easier for the Cumans to escape than it is for you...you dwell in houses and have fixed towns and fortresses, so how will you escape me?"
[6]
Batu Khan then decided to "reach the
ultimate sea
", where the Mongols could proceed no further. Some modern historians speculate that Batu intended primarily to assure his flanks were safe for the future from possible interference from the Europeans, and partially as a precursor to further conquest. Most believe he intended the conquest of all Europe, as soon as his flanks were safe and his forces ready.
[
citation needed
]
Having devastated the various Rus' principalities,
Subutai
and Batu sent spies into Poland, Hungary, and as far as Austria in preparation for an attack into the heartland of Europe. With a clear picture of the European kingdoms, they brilliantly prepared an attack. Batu Khan was the overall leader, but
Subutai
was the actual commander in the field and as such was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Rus'. The Mongols invaded central Europe in three groups. One group invaded and devastated Poland, defeating a combined force under
Henry II the Pious
, Duke of Silesia and the Grand Master of the
Teutonic Order
at
Legnica
. A second crossed the
Carpathian Mountains
, and a third followed the
Danube
. The armies swept the plains of Hungary over the summer, and in the spring of 1242 they regained impetus and extended their control into Austria and
Dalmatia
, as well as invading
Morava
.
[
citation needed
]
While the northern force under Ogedei's son
Khadan
and
Baidar
, the son of
Chagatai
, won the
Battle of Legnica
, and another army of
Guyuk
or
Buri
triumphed in
Transylvania
,
Subutai
was waiting for another victory over the
Magyars
, the
Croats
, and the
Templars
on the Hungarian plain. In 1241, a Tatar (Mongol) army led by Bujek crossed the mountains of the
Kara Ulagh
("Black Vlachs"); Bujek defeated the
Vlachs
and one of their leader named
Mi?lav
.
[7]
However, the Mongol Army was defeated by
Ivan Asen II
of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
shortly afterward.
[8]
After the siege of
Pest
, Batu's army withdrew to the
Sajo River
and inflicted a tremendous defeat on King Bela IV and his allies at the
Battle of Mohi
on 11 April. Khadan, Baidar, and Orda went to Hungary, devastating
Moravia
en route. The Mongols appointed a
darughachi
in Hungary and minted coins in the name of the Khagan.
[9]
The country of
Bela
was assigned to Orda by Batu as an
appanage
; Batu sent Khadan in pursuit of Bela, who retreated to
Croatia
.
[
citation needed
]
The Mongol
battalions
checked the forces of the
Holy Roman Empire
and
Babenberg Austria
.
[10]
During his campaign in
Central Europe
, Batu demanded that
Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor
, dethrone himself, and said: "I am coming to usurp your throne instead of you". The latter only replied that he would make a good falconer, for he understood birds very well.
[11]
The Emperor and
Pope Gregory IX
called for a
crusade
against the Mongol Empire, but Europe was plagued by internal strife.
Subutai
achieved lasting fame with his victories in Europe, as he had in Eastern Persia.
[
citation needed
]
By late 1241, Batu and
Subutai
were finalizing plans to invade Austria, Italy, and Germany when the news came of the death of
Ogedei Khan
, who died in December 1241. Batu wanted to continue the war
[
citation needed
]
, but
Subutai
reminded him of the law of
Yassa
(Их Засаг)
[
citation needed
]
. The Mongols withdrew in late spring of 1242, as the Princes of the blood, and Subutai, were recalled to
Karakorum
where the
kurultai
was held. Batu was a potential
Great Khan
, but when he failed to gain the title he turned to consolidate his conquests in Asia and the
Urals
.
[
citation needed
]
Viceroy and struggle with Guyuk
Withdrawing from Hungary, Batu made his camps along the banks of the Volga. When the
Great Khatun
Toregene
invited him to elect the next
Emperor
of the Mongol Empire, Batu announced his inability to attend any immediate
kurultai
, thus delaying the succession for several years. Eventually,
Guyuk
was elected Khagan in 1246, with Batu's brothers representing the Jochid lineage. As one of the oldest members of Chingisid
Borjigin
, Batu became a
viceroy
over all the western parts of the empire, controlling routine affairs among the Rus' princes, nominating Jochid retainers as governors of
Iran
, and receiving in audience grandees from the
Caucasus
. At no point, however, did he openly challenge the authority of the Great Khan.
[
citation needed
]
During the absence of Batu, the Mongols who were left behind put to death Mstislav, the prince of
Rylsk
, in
Kievan Rus'
. On his return Batu summoned the Grand prince
Yaroslav II of Vladimir
to meet him. Yaroslav was well received by Batu, who confirmed him as
suzerain
over the other Rus' princes, and gave him authority of Kiev.
[
citation needed
]
The princes of Suzdal followed Yaroslav's example. Batu sent Yaroslav to the imperial court of
Karakorum
to assist at the inauguration of
Guyuk Khan
in 1246.
Plano Carpini
, who got approval from Batu to go further, noted that the Great Khan's aunt was executed. At the same time Yaroslav was poisoned in
Mongolia
.
[
citation needed
]
Batu had commissaries in the various towns where the dependent Rus' princes and other princes held their courts.
[
citation needed
]
The princes from Rus' principalities such as Vladimir Constantine, Boris, Gleb, Vasili, Constatantine, Vladimir Constantinovich, Vasil'ko and
Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich of Vladimir
, went to the court of Batu in person. When
Michael of Chernigov
, who had murdered the Mongol envoy in Kiev, arrived, the Mongol overseers were engaged in taking a census of the inhabitants for the poll tax. Michael was ordered to repair to Batu. When summoned before Batu, he was made to pass between two fires and ordered to prostrate himself before the tablets of
Genghis Khan
. According to the
hagiographic
vita
written in praise of him decades later, Michael replied that he did not object to do obeisance to Batu himself, but to adore images of a dead man was repugnant. As he persisted in his refusal, Batu ordered his death.
[
citation needed
]
Danylo of Halych was summoned to Batu in Sarai, and submitted himself to the Mongols, an act later decried in the
Galician-Volhynian Chronicle
, which otherwise glorified Danylo's exploits. Batu, addressing him, said "You have for a long time refused to come, but have effaced your ill conduct by your obedience" and saluted him with a draught of
airag
.
[
citation needed
]
They exchanged hostages whereby 100 families of
Keraites
were re-settled in
Carpathian-Galicia
. After the defeat of the
Sultanate of Rum
,
Baiju
freed
David VII Ulu
from
Turkish
imprisonment and sent him to Batu and
Guyuk
. Fearing Baiju's aggressive policy,
Queen Rusudan
of
Georgia
sent her son
David VI Narin
to Batu's court to get official recognition as heir apparent. Batu supported David VI and granted him the rights above the
Georgian
and
Armenian
nobles and the Mongol tammachis. But Guyuk made David Ulu the senior king of
Georgia
and ordered Batu's protege David Narin to be subordinate to David Ulu.
[
citation needed
]
Suspicion between Batu and
Guyuk
increased, and
Guyuk
replaced the officials in Iran and the Caucasus with his own men, including
Eljigidei
. When
Guyuk
began moving west,
Sorghaghtani Beki
, the widow of
Tolui
, warned Batu that he was actually the Great Khan's target. When
Guyuk
summoned Batu to appear before him, Batu moved slowly. Before meeting Batu,
Guyuk
died suddenly. According to
William of Rubruck
and a Muslim chronicle, one of Batu's brothers murdered or poisoned the Great Khan
Guyuk
and Batu then killed the imperial envoy, though this account is not completely confirmed by other major sources.
[
citation needed
]
Mongke and Batu
An opportunity had arrived for deposing the
House of Ogedei
from the overlordship of the Mongols, and Batu was determined to avail himself of it. But Batu seemed to allow
Oghul Qaimish
to serve as
regent
. He also suggested unruly princes listen to her words. When Batu was ill,
Mongke Khan
went to the Ulus of Jochi to greet him as his mother
Sorghagtani
advised. Batu was much delighted on seeing him.
[
citation needed
]
At last, Batu called a kurultai on his own territory in 1250. Members of the Ogedeid and Chagataid families refused to attend the kurultai beyond the
Mongolian
heartland. The kurultai offered the throne to Batu Khan who had no interest in promoting himself as the new Grand Khan. Rejecting it, he instead nominated Mongke, who led a Mongol army in Rus', the Northern Caucasus, and Hungary. The pro-Tolui faction rose up and supported his choice. Given its limited attendance and location, this kurultai was of questionable validity. Batu sent Mongke under the protection of his brothers,
Berke
and Tukhtemur, and his son
Sartaq
to assemble a formal kurultai at Kodoe Aral in the heartland. The supporters of Mongke invited Oghul Qaimish and other main Ogedeid and Chagataid princes to attend the kurultai, but they refused each time, demanding descendants of Ogedei must be khan. In response, Batu accused them of killing his aunt Altalaun and defying Ogedei's nominee, Shiremun. After the assembled throng proclaimed Mongke Great Khan of the Mongol Empire in 1251, he punished the Ogedeid and Chagataid families for the organized plot against him. Mongke sent Buri to Batu who had him executed by Buri's opponent general. Eljigidei was also ordered to be executed.
[
citation needed
]
Grand prince Andrey II of Vladimir allied with the rebellious-minded princes of western
Rus'
, giving umbrage to the Mongols. Batu sent a
punitive expedition
under Nevrui. On their approach, Andrey fled to Pskov and thence to Sweden. The Mongols spread over Vladimir and harshly punished the people there. The
Livonian Knights
stopped their advance to Novgorod and Pskov on hearing the news about the Mongols. Thanks to his friendship with Sartaq, Alexander was installed as the grand prince of Vladimir by Batu in 1252. In 1256 Andrey travelled to
Sarai
to ask pardon for his former infidelity and was shown mercy.
[
citation needed
]
During the reign of Mongke, Batu's prestige as kingmaker and viceroy of the great khans in the west reached its height. Even so, Batu allowed Mongke's census takers to operate freely in his realm. According to a Muslim chronicle and the
History of Yuan
, Batu had free access to the imperial treasury.
[12]
Of all the grandsons of Genghis Khan, he and Mongke seemed most capable and the most dedicated to following the spirit of Mongol law.
[13]
Batu dispatched a large Jochid delegation to participate in
Hulagu
's
expedition in the Middle East
. However, Berke's persuasion might have forced him to delay to strengthen Hulagu's force, little suspecting that it would result in eliminating the Jochid predominance there, for few years.
[
citation needed
]
Batu, Mongke, and other princely lines shared rule over the area from Afghanistan to Turkey. Batu left the affairs of state to his son,
Sartaq
, before dying in 1255.
[
citation needed
]
Family and legacy
Batu Khan was approximately five feet and seven inches tall (1.70 m), and had at least four children:
- Sartaq
, khan of the Golden Horde from 1255 to 1256, son of Batu Khan and
Boraqchin
- Toqoqan
[14]
- Andewan
- Ulagchi
? probably the son of Sartaq often named Ju Lai (Dzhulaibek)
Batu's mother Ukhaa ujin belonged to the Mongol
Onggirat
clan
[15]
while his chief khatun Boraqchin was an Alchi-
Tatar
.
[
citation needed
]
When Batu and his son
Sartaq
died, after a brief regency of
Boraqchin
for
Ulagchi
, Batu's brother
Berke
inherited the
Golden Horde
. Berke was not inclined to unity with his cousins in the Mongol family, making war on
Hulagu Khan
, though Berke officially recognized Mongke and the
Empire of the Great Khan
as his overlords. In fact, Berke was an independent ruler by then. Berke did not share Batu's interest in conquering it, however, he demanded
Hungarian King
Bela IV
's submission and sent his general
Borolday
to
Lithuania
and Poland.
[
citation needed
]
The Kipchak Khanate was known in Rus and Europe as the
Golden Horde
(
Zolotaya Orda
) some think because of the golden colour of the Khan's tent. "Horde" comes from the Mongol word "orda/ordu" or camp. "Golden" is thought to have had a similar meaning to "royal" (Royal Camp). Of all the Khanates, the Golden Horde ruled longest. Long after the expulsion of the
Yuan dynasty
from China to Mongolia, and the fall of
Ilkhanate
in Middle East, the descendants of Batu Khan continued to rule the steppes in what is now Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Batu's line ruled the Jochid Ulus until 1360, a century after Berke's death in 1264. Descendants of his brothers, Orda and Tuqatimur, took the throne of the Golden Horde afterwards.
[
citation needed
]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Batu Khan
[16]
|
---|
|
See also
Notes
References
Citations
- ^
Alemany, Agusti (2000).
Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation
. BRILL. p. 166.
ISBN
978-90-04-11442-5
.
- ^
H. H. Howorth
The history of the Mongols
, p.II, d.II, p. 37.
- ^
Thomas T. Allsen
Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia
, p. 45.
- ^
Michael Prawdin, Gerard (INT) Chaliand
The Mongol empire
, p. 262.
- ^
Curta, Florin.
Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages 500-1250
- ^
Mouskes, Philippe. publie par le baron de Reiffenberg, 2. Bruxelles, 1838. с. 30747 ? 30762.
- ^
Michael Prawdin
, Gerard (INT) Chaliand,
The Mongol empire
, p. 268.
- ^
H. H. Howorth
The history of the Mongols
, p.II, d.II, pp. 48-50.
- ^
Albericus Trium Fontium,
Monumenta
, scriptores, xxiii. 943.
- ^
Rene Grousset
The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia
, p. 596.
- ^
Jack Weatherford
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire
, p. 109.
- ^
David Morgan,
The Mongols
, p. 224.
- ^
Rashid al-Din
Universal History
, Jochids' tale
- ^
Anne F. Broadbridge,
Women and the Making of the Mongol Empire
(2018), pp. 118, 229.
Sources
- Books
- Grousset, Rene (1938).
L'Empire des Steppes
.
- Morgan, David
(1991).
The Mongols
. Wiley.
ISBN
0-631-17563-6
.
- Nicolle, David (1998).
The Mongol Warlords
. Brockhampton Press.
- Rockhill, William Woodville (1967),
The Journey of William of Rubruck to The Eastern Parts of the World, 1253?55, As Narrated by Himself, With Two Accounts of the Earlier Journey of John of Pian de Carpine.
- Ronay, Gabriel (1978).
The Tartar Khan's Englishman
. Cassell.
ISBN
0-304-30054-3
.
- Saunders, J. J. (1971).
The History of the Mongol Conquests
. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
ISBN
0-8122-1766-7
.
- Sicker, Martin (2000).
The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna
. Praeger Publishers.
- Soucek, Svatopluk (2000).
A History of Inner Asia
. Cambridge.
- Yan, Vasily (2007).
Baty
. Azbuka Clasica.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Batu Khan
.
Batu Khan
Died:
1255
|
Regnal titles
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Preceded by
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Khan
of the
Golden Horde
1227?1255
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Succeeded by
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Preceded by
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Khan
of the
Blue Horde
1240?1255
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Succeeded by
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- Organization
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