List of khans of the Golden Horde explained

This is a complete list of khans of the Ulus of Jochi, better known by its later Russian designation as the Golden Horde, in its right (west) wing and left (east) wing divisions known problematically as the Blue Horde and White Horde,[1] and of its main successor state during a period of disintegration, known as the Great Horde. Khans of the Blue Horde are listed as the principal rulers of the Golden Horde, although many late rulers of the Golden Horde originated from the subordinate White Horde. Following the general convention, the list encompasses the period from the death of Genghis Khan in 1227 to the sack of Sarai by the Crimean Khanate in 1502.[2] The chronological and genealogical information is often incomplete and contradictory; annotation can be found in the secondary lists in the second part of the article, and in the individual articles on specific monarchs.

Western Half (Blue Horde)
Ulus of Batu
Eastern Half (White Horde)
Ulus of Orda
Jochi

As deputy of Genghis Khan in Central and Western Asia
c. 1207–1227 C.E.
Golden Horde
(Ulus of Jochi, Khanate of Qipchāq or Kipchak)




1227–1459 C.E.
Batu Khan

As overall Khan
1227–1255 C.E.
Orda Khan

1227–1251 C.E.
Sartaq Khan

As overall Khan
1255–1256 C.E.
Qun Quran

1251–1280 C.E.
Ulaqchi Khan

As overall Khan
1256–1257 C.E.
Berke Khan

As overall Khan
1257–1266 C.E.
Möngke Temür

As overall Khan
1266–1280 C.E.
Töde Möngke

As overall Khan
1280–1287 C.E.
Köchü

1280–1302 C.E.
Töle Buqa

As overall Khan
1287–1291 C.E.
Toqta

As overall Khan
1291–1312 C.E.
Buyan or Bayan Khan

1302–1309 C.E.
Muhammad Uzbeg Khan

As overall Khan
1313–1341 C.E.
Sasibuqa Khan

c. 1310–1320 C.E.
(dubious)
Erzen

1320–1341 C.E.
(dubious)
Tīnī Beg

As overall Khan
1341–1342 C.E.
Jānī Beg

As overall Khan
1342–1357 C.E.
Chimtay

1344–1360 C.E.
(dubious)
Berdi Beg

As overall Khan
1357–1359 C.E.
Qulpa Khan

As overall Khan
1359–1360 C.E.
Nawrūz Beg

As overall Khan
1360 C.E.
Khiḍr Khan

1360–1361 C.E.
Qara Nogai
1360–1361 C.E.
Tīmūr Khwāja

1361 C.E.
Ordu Malik (Ordu Shaykh)

1361 C.E.
Kildi Beg

1361–1362 C.E.
ʿAbdallāh Khan

As a puppet Khan under Mamai
1362 C.E. 1st reign at Sarai
Murād

1362 C.E.
Khayr Pūlād (Mīr Pūlād)

1362–1364 C.E.
Tughluq Tīmūr
1363–c. 1365 C.E.
ʿAzīz Shaykh

1364–1367 C.E.
Mubārak Khwāja

c. 1365–1369 C.E.
ʿAbdallāh Khan

As a puppet Khan under Mamai
1367–1368 C.E. 2nd reign at Sarai
Ūljāy Tīmūr

1368 C.E.
Haṣan Beg

1368–1369 C.E.
ʿAbdallāh Khan

As a puppet Khan under Mamai
1369 C.E. 3rd reign at Sarai
Qutluq Khwāja
1369–1370 C.E.
Urus Khan

1369–1370 C.E.
Tūlūn Beg Khānum

As a puppet Queen under Mamai
1370–1371 C.E.
Muḥammad-Sulṭān

As a puppet Khan under Mamai
1371–1373 C.E. 1st reign at Sarai
Urus Khan

1373 C.E.
Hājjī Cherkes

1373–1374 C.E.
Urus Khan

1373–1374 C.E.
Īl Beg

1374 C.E.
Muḥammad-Sulṭān

As a puppet Khan under Mamai
1374 C.E. 2nd reign at Sarai
Urus Khan

1374–1375 C.E.
Qāghān Beg

1375–1377 C.E.
Urus Khan

1375–1377 C.E.
ʿArab Shāh

1377–1380 C.E.
Toqtaqiya

1377 C.E.
Tīmūr Malik

1377–1379 C.E.
Tokhtamysh

1379–1380 C.E.
Tokhtamysh

As Khan
1380–1395 C.E.
Quyurchuq

1395–1397 C.E.
Tīmūr Qutluq

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1397–1399 C.E.
Shādī Beg

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1399–1407 C.E.
Pūlād Khan

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1407–1409 C.E.1st reign at Sarai
Karīm Berdi

1409 C.E.1st reign at Sarai
Pūlād Khan

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1409–1410 C.E.2nd reign at Sarai
Tīmūr Khan

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1410–1411 C.E.
Jalāl ad-Din Zeleni Saltan

1411–1412 C.E.
Karīm Berdi

1412–1413 C.E.2nd reign at Sarai
Kebek

1413–1414 C.E.
Karīm Berdi

1414 C.E.3rd reign at Sarai
Jabbār Berdi

1414–1415 C.E.1st reign at Sarai
Chekre

Khan in alliance with Edigu
1415–1416 C.E.
Jabbār Berdi

1416–1417 C.E.2nd reign at Sarai
Darwīsh

a puppet Khan of Edigu
1417–1419 C.E.
Qādir Berdi

1419 C.E.
Ḥājjī Muḥammad

a puppet Khan of Edigu's sons
1419 C.E.
Barāq Khan (His son Jani Beg Khan along with Kerey Khan founded the Kazakh Khanate in 1456)

1421–1427 C.E.
Ulugh Muḥammad (Founded the Kazan Khanate in 1438)

1427–1433 C.E.
Sayyid Aḥmad I

1433–1435 C.E.
Küchük Muḥammad

1435–1459 C.E.
Golden Horde broke up as follows: 1438, Kazan Khanate under Ulugh Muhammad; 1441, Crimean Khanate under Hacı I Giray; Qasim Khanate (1452). The remnant, which became known as the Great Horde, was left with the steppe between the Dnieper and Yaik, the capital Sarai and a claim to represent the tradition of the Golden Horde.
Great Horde

1459–1502 C.E.
Maḥmūd (Founded the Khanate of Astrakhan in 1466)

1459–1465 C.E.
Aḥmad

1465–1481 C.E.
Shaykh Aḥmad

1481–1502 C.E
The Great Horde collapsed gradually and territories became independent Khanates; 1466, Astrakhan Khanate under one of Kuchuk Muhammed's sons named Mahmud bin Küchük; Tyumen Khanate (1468, later Siberia Khanate).

Secondary list with short biographies

The following is a detailed annotated list intended mainly as an index to the linked articles. It is based primarily on Baumer 2016,[3] Gaev 2002, Grigor'ev 1983, Howorth 1880,[4] Počekaev 2010, and Sabitov 2008 and 2014. Name forms, encountered in much variation and inconsistency, are standardized on the basis of Biran 1997 and Bosworth 1996.

Western half of the Golden Horde (1226–1362)

"Sarai Horde" (Right bank of the Volga) (1362–1399)

(Chronology according to Grigor'ev 1983)

(Alternative chronology according to Sidorenko 2000)

"Mamai's Horde" (Left bank of the Volga) (1362–1380)

Eastern half of the Golden Horde (1227–1380)

Between 1242 and 1380 the eastern and western halves of the horde were generally separate, the dividing line being somewhere north of the Caspian, perhaps the Ural. The relation between the two is not always clear, but the rulers of the Eastern half generally recognized the superior authority of those of the Western half. In the late 14th century, the Eastern half's rulers I. and L. attempted, at times successfully, to take over the Western half. The western khans had a capital at Sarai on the lower Volga while the eastern khans had capitals or winter camps on the Syr Darya, especially Sighnaq. Most rulers of the Eastern half are poorly documented, and historiography still largely relies on the treatment by Hammer-Purgstall 1840, who had access to what are now considered unreliable sources, like versions of the account of Muʿīn-ad-Dīn Naṭanzī (earlier known as the "Anonymous of Iskandar"). What became the traditional account, therefore, relies on Naṭanzī and his derivatives to construct (through additional rationalization) a continuous succession of khans from Orda (3a/A) to Urus Khan (I) and Tokhtamysh (L). While it is clear that the traditional chronology and genealogy are very flawed, they have enjoyed a lasting and pervasive influence in historiography, appearing even in recent publications, such as Bosworth 1996 and Baumer 2016. For discussion, see Vásáry 2009.

(Chronology and genealogy according to Hammer-Purgstall 1840)

(Revised chronology and genealogy according to Vásáry 2009)

Driven by a better understanding of the coinage of Mubārak Khwāja (issued in 1366–1368, not, as previously assumed, 40 or 30 years earlier), of Naṭanzī's limitations as a source on the subject, and of more reliable sources on the chronology and genealogy of Mongol rulers, Vásáry 2009 proposed the following reconstruction, some of it already anticipated by, e.g., Gaev 2002.

(Revised chronology and genealogy according to Sabitov 2014)

Sabitov 2014 likewise established a substantial revision to the list of rulers of the Eastern half of the Golden Horde, based on the Muʿizz al-ansāb, the Tawārīḫ-i guzīdah-i nuṣrat-nāmah, and the Čingīz-Nāmah. Unlike Vásáry, Sabitov did not attempt to continue a succession of khans descended from Orda beyond what was verifiable from reliable sources, and he showed that Orda's lineage lost its authority by 1330, when Öz Beg Khan of the Western half appointed his own non-Jochid governor over the Eastern half, a member of the Kiyat clan, and the Eastern half had khans of its own again only after 1360. The list after 1330 follows Gaev 2002: 10–15 and Sabitov 2008: 286.

After Tokhtamysh (1380–1502)

Following Tokhtamysh there was no longer a clear distinction between east and west. For the first twenty years power was held by descendants of Urus Khan and Tohktamysh and by the warlord Edigu. There was then a confused period, followed by several long reigns. The last khan was deposed in 1502. The Golden horde broke up as follows: before 1400: Lithuania expanded as far east as Kiev, ?: Kursk as Lithuanian vassal, c 1430: land east of the Ural held by Abul Khayr, 1438: Kazan (by T11), 1449: Crimea (family of 3c), 1452: Kasimov as Russian vassal (family of 3c), 1465: Kazakh khanate (sons of T12), 1466: Astrakhan (T15), 1480: Russia, before 1490?: Sibir. The steppe nomads then became organized as the Nogai Horde.

Genealogy of Ulus of Jochi

Mongol Empire
Golden Horde (Before Islamization)
Golden Horde/Great Horde (After Islamization)
White Horde
Blue Horde
Uzbek Khanate
Kazan Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Qasim Khanate
Astrakhan Khanate
Tyumen Khanate
Sibir Khanate
Kazakh Khanate
Bukhara Khanate
Khiva Khanate
Caucasian Tyumen Khanate
Second Bulgarian Empire
Tsardom of Russia

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. These color references in most English-language scholarship are based on earlier works that were dependent on Persian sources, which inverted the color labels used by the arguably more relevant Turkish sources. See May 2016 and May 2018: 282–283.
  2. Compare the (incomplete) list in Bosworth 1996: 252–254.
  3. Baumer 2016: 262–273.
  4. Howorth 1880: 25–349. This is the most detailed account of the history of the Golden Horde in English, but it is very dated. The sources and scholarship available to Howorth were very limited by present standards, and the work should be used with caution, especially for the obscure and confused events after 1359.
  5. Howorth 1880: 25–36; Počekaev 2010: 358, 370; May 2018: 364.
  6. Howorth 1880: 36–91; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 10–15, 358, 370; May 2018: 364.
  7. Howorth 1880: 91–93; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 15–16, 358, 370; May 2018: 364.
  8. Howorth 1880: 93; Počekaev 2010: 16, 358, 370 considers him a son of Sartaq; Sabitov 2015: 52.
  9. Howorth 1880: 103–125; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 15–33, 358–359, 370; May 2018: 364.
  10. Howorth 1880: 125–134; Počekaev 2010: 34–46, 359–360, 370; Sabitov 2008: 283; May 2018: 364.
  11. Počekaev 2010: 47–71; 359–361, 370; May 2018: 364
  12. Howorth 1880: 135–137 wrongly assumes he reigned longer; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 59–62; 360, 370; May 2018: 364.
  13. Howorth 1880: 137–141 wrongly assumes he was a regent or subordinate ruler; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 62–65, 360, 370; May 2018: 364.
  14. Howorth 1880: 141–148; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 65–87, 360–361, 370; May 2018: 364.
  15. Howorth 1880: 148–172; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 88–107, 361–362, 370; May 2018: 364.
  16. Howorth 1880: 173; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 108–109, 362, 370; May 2018: 364.
  17. Howorth 1880: 173–179; Sabitov 2008: 283; Počekaev 2010: 108–119, 362–363, 370; May 2018: 364.
  18. Howorth 1880: 179–181; Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 119–120, 363, 370 thinks some princes survived Berdi Beg's purge; May 2018: 364.
  19. Howorth 1880: 181 partly outdated; Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 123, 363, 370.
  20. Howorth 1880: 182 partly outdated; Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 123–124, 363, 370.
  21. Howorth 1880: 195–198, partly outdated; Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 123–124, 363, 371; May 2018: 364.
  22. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 124–125, 363, 371 with slightly different chronology (after Ordu Malik); May 2018: 364.
  23. Počekaev 2010: 121–141, 363–364, 370, 373.
  24. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 124–125, 363, 372 with slightly different chronology (before Tīmūr Khwāja).
  25. Počekaev 2010: 125–126, 363.
  26. Gaev 2002: 23–25, 54; Počekaev 2010: 126–130, 363–364, 370 with different hypothetical genealogy.
  27. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 125–128, 363, 371.
  28. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 126–128, 142–146, 364, 371.
  29. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 128–129, 364, 371.
  30. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 130, 364.
  31. Počekaev 2010: 371; Počekaev 2010: 130, 364, 371.
  32. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 130, 364, 370.
  33. Gaev 2002: 23–25, 54; Počekaev 2010: 130–139, 364, 370 with different hypothetical genealogy and conflation with Tūlāk (23M).
  34. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 132–135, 148, 364–365, 372.
  35. Počekaev 2010: 133–134, 364.
  36. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 133, 364, 371.
  37. Počekaev 2010: 133–139.
  38. Počekaev 2010: 133–135, 148–149, 153.
  39. Sabitov 2008: 284; Počekaev 2010: 135, 149–151, 160, 364–365, 371.
  40. Sabitov 2008: 285; Počekaev 2010: 135, 137–139, 147–154, 160, 365, 371.
  41. Sabitov 2018: 286; Počekaev 2010: 365–366, 372; May 2018: 364.
  42. Gaev 2002: 23–25, 54.
  43. Gaev 2002: 23–25, 54.
  44. Gaev 2002: 23–25, 54–55.
  45. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 363, 372.
  46. Sabitov 2008: 286.
  47. Sabitov 2008: 286.
  48. Sabitov 2008: 286.
  49. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 132–135, 148–149, 153, 156–159, 364–365, 372.
  50. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 153, 159.
  51. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 153, 159.
  52. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 153, 155–177, 365–366, 372.
  53. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 153, 155–177, 365–366, 372; May 2018: 364.
  54. Počekaev 2010: 178–195, 365–366, 373.
  55. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 174, 366, 372.
  56. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 172, 174, 366, 372.
  57. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 172, 174–176, 180–189, 365–366, 372; May 2018: 364.
  58. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 189–190, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 705–707.
  59. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 190–192, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 707–710; May 2018: 364.
  60. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 191, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 710, 713–714; May 2018: 364.
  61. Reva 2016: 707–710.
  62. Sabitov 2008: 286; Počekaev 2010: 192–193, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 710–712; May 2018: 364.
  63. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 192–193, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 712; May 2018: 364.
  64. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 193, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 713–714; May 2018: 364.
  65. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 193, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 714.
  66. Počekaev 2010: 193–194, 366, 372
  67. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 193–194, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 715; May 2018: 364.
  68. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 193–194, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 714.
  69. Počekaev 2010: 193–194, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 715.
  70. Howorth 1880: 272.
  71. Sabitov 2008: 55–56, 288; Reva 2016: 715.
  72. Počekaev 2010: 194, 366, 372.
  73. Reva 2016: 715.
  74. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 194, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 715–716.
  75. Sabitov 2008: 287; Počekaev 2010: 194–195, 366, 372; Reva 2016: 716.
  76. Parunin 2016.
  77. Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 194, 366–367, 372.
  78. Počekaev 2010: 194, 197, 367, 371; Reva 2016: 716–717.
  79. Počekaev 2010: 197–199, 367, 372, who has Barāq hold Sarai again between Ulugh Muḥammad (T21/23) and Dawlat Berdi (T22) in 1427; Reva 2016: 717–718.
  80. Počekaev 2010: 197–198, 367, 372; Reva 2016: 718.
  81. Počekaev 2010: 198, 205–208, 372; Reva 2016: 718.
  82. Počekaev 2010: 196–199, 367–368, 372; Reva 2016: 718–719.
  83. Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 197–199, 367, 372; Reva 2016: 717–718.
  84. Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 202–212, 367–368, 372; Reva 2016: 719–720.
  85. Sabitov 2008: 287.
  86. Sabitov 2008: 287.
  87. Sabitov 2008: 287.
  88. Sabitov 2008: 287.
  89. Sabitov 2008: 289–290.
  90. Howorth 1880: 292–305; Počekaev 2010: 202–208, 213, 367–368, 372; Reva 2016: 721.
  91. Howorth 1880: 292–305; Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 202–208, 240–241, 367, 372 thinks he is identical with Sayyid Aḥmad (I) (T15), the son of Karīm Berdi (T5/9/11); Reva 2016: 719–721.
  92. Sabitov 2008: 296.
  93. Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 213–218, 368, 372.
  94. Sabitov 2008: 288; Počekaev 2010: 213–227, 368, 372.
  95. Počekaev 2010: 228–244, 368–369, 372.
  96. Počekaev 2010: 228–244, 356 n. 745, 368, 372.
  97. Počekaev 2010: 228–244, 368, 372.