Editing Golden Horde (section)

== Decline ==

=== Great Troubles (1359–1381) ===
{{Main|Great Troubles}}
[[File:Kulikovo lubok.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Battle of Kulikovo]] in 1380]]

[[Berdi Beg]] was killed in a coup by his brother [[Qulpa]] in 1359. Qulpa's two sons were Christians and bore the Slavic names Michael and Ivan, which outraged the Muslim populace of the Golden Horde. In 1360, Qulpa's brother [[Nawruz Beg]] revolted against the khan and killed him and his sons. In 1361, a descendant of [[Shiban]] (5th son of [[Jochi]]) was invited by some grandees to seize the throne. Khidr rebelled against Nawruz, whose own lieutenant betrayed him and handed him over to be executed. Khidr was slain by his own son, Timur Khwaja, in the same year. Timur Khwaja reigned for only five weeks before descendants of Öz Beg Khan seized power.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=246}}

In 1362, the Golden Horde was divided between Keldi Beg in Sarai, Bulat Temir in [[Volga Bulgaria]], and Abdullah in [[Crimea]]. Meanwhile, the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] attacked the western tributaries of the Golden Horde and conquered [[Kiev]] and [[Podolia]] after the [[Battle of Blue Waters]] in 1363.{{sfn|Atwood|2004|p=480}} A powerful Mongol general by the name of [[Mamai]] backed Abdullah but failed to take Sarai, which saw the reign of two more khans, Murad and Aziz. Abdullah died in 1370 and Muhammad Bolaq was enthroned as puppet khan by Mamai.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=246}} Mamai also had to deal with a rebellion in [[Nizhny Novgorod]]. Muscovite troops impinged on the Bulgar territory of Arab-Shah, the son of Bulat Temir, who caught them off guard and defeated them on the banks of the [[Battle on Pyana River|Pyana River]]. However Arab-Shah was unable to take advantage of the situation because of the advance of another Mongol general from the east.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=258}} Encouraged by the news of Muscovite defeat, Mamai sent an army against [[Dmitry Donskoy]], who defeated the Mongol forces at the [[Battle of the Vozha River]] in 1378. Mamai hired [[Genoa|Genoese]], [[Circassians|Circassian]], and [[Alans|Alan]] mercenaries for another attack on Moscow in 1380. In the ensuing battle, Mongol forces once again lost at the [[Battle of Kulikovo]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=258}}

By 1360, [[Urus Khan]] had set up court in [[Sighnaq]]. He was named Urus, which means Russian in [[Turkish language]], presumably because "Urus-Khan's mother was a Russian princess... he was prepared to press his claims on Russia on that ground."{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=247}} In 1372, Urus marched west and occupied Sarai. His nephew and lieutenant [[Tokhtamysh]] deserted him and went to [[Timur]] for assistance. Tokhtamysh attacked Urus, killing his son Kutlug-Buka, but lost the battle and fled to [[Samarkand]]. Soon after, another general [[Edigu]] deserted Urus and went over to Timur. Timur personally attacked Urus in 1376 but the campaign ended indecisively. Urus died the next year and was succeeded by his son, Timur-Melik, who immediately lost Sighnaq to Tokhtamysh. In 1378, Tokhtamysh conquered Sarai.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=250}}

By the 1380s, the [[Shaybanids]] and [[Qashan Principality|Qashan]] attempted to break free of the Khan's power.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

=== Tokhtamysh (1381–1395) ===
{{See also|Tokhtamysh–Timur war}}
[[File:Timur.jpeg|thumb|[[Timur|Amir Timur]] and his forces advance against the Golden Horde, [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[Tokhtamysh]].]]
[[File:Facial Chronicle - b.10, p.049 - Tokhtamysh at Moscow.jpg|thumb|[[Tokhtamysh]] besieges [[Moscow]].]]
[[Tokhtamysh]] attacked Mamai, who had recently suffered a loss against Moscow, and [[Battle of the Kalka River (1381)|defeated him]] in 1381, thus briefly reestablishing the Golden Horde as a dominant regional power. Mamai fled to the Genoese who killed him soon after. Tokhtamysh sent an envoy to the Russian states to resume their tributary status, but the envoy only made it as far as [[Nizhny Novgorod]] before he was stopped. Tokhtamysh immediately seized all the boats on the Volga to ferry his army across and commenced the [[Siege of Moscow (1382)]], which fell after three days under a false truce. The next year, most of the Russian princes once again made obeisance to the khan and received patents from him.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=267}} Tokhtamysh also crushed the Lithuanian army at [[Poltava]] in the next year.{{sfn|Grousset|1970|p=407}} [[Władysław II Jagiełło]], Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, accepted his supremacy and agreed to pay tribute in return for a grant of Russian territory.<ref name="Johann Voigt p. 47">ed. Johann Voigt, ''Codex diplomaticus Prussicus, 6 vols, VI'', p. 47</ref>

Elated by his success, Tokhtamysh invaded [[Azerbaijan]] in 1386 and seized [[Tabriz]]. He ordered money with his name on it coined in [[Khwarezm]] and sent envoys to [[Egypt]] to seek an alliance. In 1387, Timur sent an army into Azerbaijan and fought indecisively with the forces of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh invaded [[Transoxania]] and reached as far as [[Bukhara]], but failed to take the city, and had to turn back. Timur retaliated by invading Khwarezm and destroyed [[Urgench]]. Tokhtamysh attacked Timur on the [[Syr Darya]] in 1389 with a massive army including [[Russians]], [[Bulgars]], [[Circassians]], and [[Alans]]. The battle ended indecisively. In 1391, Timur gathered an army 200,000 strong and defeated Tokhtamysh at the [[Battle of the Kondurcha River]]. Timur's allies [[Temür Qutlugh]] and [[Edigu]] took the eastern half of the Golden Horde. Tokhtamysh returned in 1394, ravaging the region of [[Shirvan]]. In 1395, Timur annihilated Tokhtamysh's army again at the [[Battle of the Terek River]], destroyed his capital, looted the Crimean trade centers, and deported the most skillful craftsmen to his own capital in [[Samarkand]]. Timur's forces reached as far north as [[Ryazan]] before turning back.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=277}}

=== Edigu (1395–1419) ===

Temür Qutlugh was chosen Khan in Sarai while Edigu became co-ruler, and Koirijak was appointed sovereign of the White Horde by Timur.{{sfnp|Howorth|1880|p=287}} Tokhtamysh fled to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and asked [[Vytautas]] for assistance in retaking the Golden Horde in exchange for suzerainty over the Russian lands. In 1399, Vytautas and Tokhtamysh attacked Temür Qutlugh and Edigu at the [[Battle of the Vorskla River]] but were defeated. The Golden Horde victory secured [[Kiev]], [[Podolia]], and some land in the lower [[Bug River]] basin. Tokhtamysh died in obscurity in [[Tyumen]] around 1405. His son [[Jalal al-Din Khan ibn Tokhtamysh|Jalal al-Din]] fled to Lithuania and participated in the [[Battle of Grunwald]] against the [[Teutonic Order]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=282}}

Temür Qutlugh died in 1400 and his cousin [[Shadi Beg]] was elected khan with Edigu's approval. After defeating Vytautas, Edigu concentrated on strengthening the Golden Horde. He forbade selling Golden Horde subjects as slaves abroad. Later on the slave trade was resumed, but only Circassians were allowed to be sold. As a result, most of the [[Mamluk]] recruits in the 15th century were of Circassian origin. Timur died in 1405 and Edigu took advantage to seize Khwarezm a year later. From 1400 to 1408, Edigu gradually regained the eastern Russian tributaries, with the exception of Moscow, which he failed to take in a siege but ravaged the surrounding area. [[Smolensk]] was also lost to Lithuania. Shadi Beg rebelled against Edigu but was defeated and fled to [[Astrakhan]]. Shadi Beg was replaced by [[Pulad]], who died in 1410 and was succeeded by Temur Khan, the son of Temür Qutlugh. Temur Khan turned against Edigu and forced him to flee to Khwarezm in 1411. Temur himself was ousted the next year by Jalal al-Din, who returned from Lithuania and briefly took the throne. In 1414, [[Shah Rukh]] of the [[Timurids]] conquered Khwarezm. Edigu fled to the Crimea where he launched raids on Kiev and tried to forge an alliance with Lithuania to win back the horde. Edigu died in 1419 in a skirmish with one of Tokhtamysh's sons.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|pp=284–287}}