The Golden Horde Matt Below Geog 308 Prof. Zoltan Grossman 4-23-04.

The Golden HordeThe Golden HordeMatt BelowMatt BelowGeog 308Geog 308

Prof. Zoltan GrossmanProf. Zoltan Grossman4-23-044-23-04

Who Where the Mongols?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?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 HordeThe 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 YurtsMongolian Yurts

Mongolian YurtsMongolian Yurts

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

Beginning of the Golden HordeBeginning 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 KhanGenghis 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 TerritoriesExtent of Golden Horde Territories

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html

Batu KhanBatu 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

Orda KhanOrda Khan

• 1226-1280

• Leader of the White Horde

• Brother of Batu

• Along with brother, formed Golden Horde

Timur KhanTimur 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 HordeConquests of the Golden Horde

http://www.friesian.com/mongol.htm


• 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

Some Siege TechniquesSome 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 TechniquesSiege 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


Battlefield WarfareBattlefield 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


Extent of Golden Horde TerritoriesExtent of Golden Horde Territories

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html

Communication by MongolsCommunication by Mongols

• Mongols on horseback relay messages

• Called “orto”• Similar to Pony

Express

http://www.apolyton.net/ron/factsheets/images/nations/mongol.gif


• 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 ArtworkMongol 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

http://www.weatherburyfarm.com/nigel_tudor.htm

•www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/ 03/hm3_5_13d.html

Golden Horde TradeGolden 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


• Feared by nearly all people familiar with them

• Portrayed as ruthless cannibals– European artwork

showed Mongols as unhuman, beastly



• 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 PolicyThe 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

ReferencesReferences

• 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

The Golden Horde Matt Below Geog 308 Prof. Zoltan Grossman 4-23-04.

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