Editing Golden Horde (section)

== Golden Age ==
{{see also|Timeline of the Golden Horde}}

[[File:Batu Khan on the Throne by Rashid al-Din.jpg|thumb|[[Batu Khan]] establishes the Golden Horde.]]
[[File:Dzhuchi khan mausoleum.jpg|thumb|[[Jochi]] Mausoleum, [[Ulytau Region]]]]

=== Batu Khan (1242–1256) ===

When the Great [[Khatun]] [[Töregene]] invited Batu to elect the next Emperor of the Mongol Empire in 1242, he declined to attend the [[kurultai]] and instead stayed at the [[Volga River]]. Although Batu excused himself by saying he was suffering from old age and illness, it seems that he did not support the election of Güyük Khan. Güyük and [[Büri]], a grandson of [[Chagatai Khan]], had quarreled violently with Batu at a victory banquet during the Mongol occupation of Eastern Europe. He sent his brothers to the kurultai, and the new Khagan of the Mongols was elected in 1246.

All the senior princes of Rus', including [[Yaroslav II of Vladimir]], [[Daniel of Galicia]], and [[Sviatoslav III of Vladimir]], acknowledged Batu's supremacy. Originally Batu ordered Daniel to turn the administration of [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] over to the Mongols, but Daniel personally visited Batu in 1245 and pledged allegiance to him. After returning from his trip, Daniel was visibly influenced by the Mongols, and equipped his army in the Mongol fashion, his horsemen with Mongol-style cuirasses, and their mounts armoured with shoulder, chest, and head pieces.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=146}} [[Michael of Chernigov]], who had [[Siege of Kiev (1240)|killed a Mongol envoy]] in 1240, refused to show obeisance and was executed in 1246.{{sfn|Atwood|2004|p=479}}

When Güyük called Batu to pay him homage several times, Batu sent [[Yaroslav II of Vladimir|Yaroslav II]], [[Andrey II of Vladimir]] and [[Alexander Nevsky]] to [[Karakorum]] in [[Mongolia]] in 1247. Yaroslav II never returned and died in Mongolia. He was probably poisoned by [[Töregene Khatun]], who probably did it to spite Batu and even her own son Güyük, because he did not approve of her regency.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=143}} Güyük appointed Andrey as the [[grand prince of Vladimir]] and Alexander was given the princely title of [[Kiev]]. However, when they returned, Andrey went to [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] while Alexander went to [[Novgorod]] instead. A bishop by the name of Cyril went to Kiev and found it so devastated that he abandoned the place and went further east instead.{{sfnp|Martin|2007|page=152}}{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=147}}

In 1248, Güyük demanded Batu come east to meet him, a move that some contemporaries regarded as a pretext for Batu's arrest. In compliance with the order, Batu approached, bringing a large army. When Güyük moved westwards, [[Tolui]]'s widow and a sister of Batu's stepmother [[Sorghaghtani]] warned Batu that the Jochids might be his target. Güyük died on the way, in what is now [[Xinjiang]], at about the age of 42. Although some modern historians believe that he died of [[natural causes]] because of deteriorating health,{{sfnp|Atwood|2004|page=213}} he may have succumbed to the combined effects of alcoholism and [[gout]], or he may have been poisoned. [[William of Rubruck]] and a Muslim chronicler state that Batu killed the imperial envoy, and one of his brothers murdered the Great Khan Güyük, but these claims are not completely corroborated by other major sources. Güyük's widow [[Oghul Qaimish]] took over as regent, but she was unable to keep the succession within her branch of the family.
[[File:MongolMap.jpg|thumb|Routes taken by Mongol invaders]]

With the assistance of Batu, [[Möngke]] succeeded as Great Khan in 1251. Utilizing the discovery of a plot designed to remove him, Möngke as the new Great Khan began a purge of his opponents. Estimates of the deaths of aristocrats, officials, and Mongol commanders range from 77 to 300. Batu became the most influential person in the Mongol Empire as his friendship with Möngke ensured the unity of the realm. Batu, Möngke, and other princely lines shared rule over the area from Afghanistan to [[Turkey]]. Batu allowed Möngke's census-takers to operate freely in his realm. Local [[census]]es took place in the 1240s, including the areas of Russia and Turkey. In 1251–1259, Möngke conducted the first empire-wide census of the Mongol Empire; while North China was completed in 1252, Novgorod in the far northwest was not counted until winter of 1258–1259.{{sfn|Atwood|2004|p=78|loc=Local censuses also took place in the 1240s in Russia and Turkey... extent of the empire made the census very time consuming; while that of North China was completed in 1252, Novgorod in the far northwest was not counted until winter 1258–59.}} There was an uprising in [[Novgorod]] against the Mongol census, but Alexander Nevsky forced the city to submit to the census and taxation.{{sfn|Atwood|2004|p=48}}

With the new powers afforded to Batu by Möngke, he now had direct control over the princes of Rus'. However, Andrey II refused to submit to Batu. Batu sent a punitive expedition under Nevruy, who defeated Andrey and forced him to flee to Novgorod, then [[Pskov]], and finally to [[Sweden]]. The Mongols overran Vladimir and harshly punished the principality. The [[Livonian Order|Livonian Knights]] stopped their advance to Novgorod and Pskov. Thanks to his friendship with [[Sartaq Khan]], Batu's son, who was a [[Christians|Christian]], Alexander was installed as the grand prince of Vladimir by Batu in 1252.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|pp=148–149}}

=== Berke (1258–1266) ===

[[File:Banner of Möngke Temür (1257-1280).svg|thumb|Banner adopted sometime during 1267-1280, during the reign of Möngke Temür]]
[[File:Golden Horde. Berke. AH 655-665 AD 1257-1267 Qrim (Crimea) mint. Struck circa AH 662-665 (AD 1263-1267).jpg|thumb|Coinage of Berke, Qrim ([[Crimea]]) mint. Struck c. AH 662–665 (AD 1263–1267).]]
After Batu died in 1256, his son [[Sartaq Khan]] was appointed by [[Möngke Khan]]. As soon as he returned from the court of the Great Khan in Mongolia, Sartaq died. The infant [[Ulaghchi]] succeeded him under the regency of Boragchin [[Khatun]]. The khatun summoned all the princes of Rus' to Sarai to renew their patents. In 1256, Andrey traveled to Sarai to ask for pardon. He was once again reappointed as the [[grand prince of Vladimir]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=150}}

Ulaghchi died soon after and Batu Khan's younger brother [[Berke]], who had been converted to [[Islam]], was enthroned as khan of the Golden Horde in 1258.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=151}}

In 1256, Daniel of Galicia openly defied the Mongols and ousted their troops in northern [[Podolia]]. In 1257, he repelled Mongol assaults led by the prince Kuremsa on Ponyzia and [[Volhynia]] and dispatched an expedition with the aim of taking Kiev. Despite initial successes, in 1259 a Mongol force under [[Boroldai]] entered Galicia and Volhynia and offered an ultimatum: Daniel was to destroy his fortifications or Boroldai would assault the towns. Daniel complied and pulled down the city walls. In 1259 Berke launched savage attacks on [[Lithuania]] and Poland, and demanded the submission of [[Béla IV]], the Hungarian monarch, and the [[Kingdom of France|French King]] [[Louis IX]] in 1259 and 1260.{{sfnp|Jackson|2014|pp=123–124}} His assault on [[Prussia]] in 1259–1260 inflicted heavy losses on the [[Teutonic Order]].<ref>Annales Mellicenses. Continuatio Zwetlensis tertia, MGHS, IX, p. 644</ref> The [[Lithuanians (tribe)|Lithuanians]] were probably tributary in the 1260s, when reports reached the [[Curia]] that they were in league with the Mongols.{{sfnp|Jackson|2014|p=202}}

In 1261, Berke approved the establishment of a church in Sarai.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=153}}

=== Toluid Civil War (1260–1264) ===
{{Division of the Mongol Empire}}
{{main || Toluid Civil War|Division of the Mongol Empire}}

After Möngke Khan died in 1259, the [[Toluid Civil War]] broke out between [[Kublai Khan]] and [[Ariq Böke]]. While [[Hulagu Khan]] of the [[Ilkhanate]] supported Kublai, Berke sided with Ariq Böke.<ref>Kirakos, ''Istoriia'' p. 236</ref> There is evidence that Berke minted coins in Ariq Böke's name,<ref>Mukhamadiev, A. G. ''Bulgaro-Tatarskiya monetnaia sistema'', p. 50</ref> but he remained militarily neutral. After the defeat of Ariq Böke in 1264, he freely acceded to Kublai's enthronement.<ref>Rashid al-Din-Jawal al Tawarikhi, (Boyle) p. 256</ref> However, some elites of the White Horde joined Ariq Böke's resistance.

=== Berke–Hulagu war (1262–1266) ===

[[File:Bataille du Terek (1262).jpeg|thumb|The Golden Horde army defeats the [[Ilkhanate]] at the [[Berke–Hulagu war|battle of Terek]] in 1262. Many of Hulagu's men drowned in the Terek River while withdrawing.]]
{{main|Berke–Hulagu war}}
Möngke ordered the Jochid and [[Chagatai Khans|Chagatayid]] families to join Hulagu's expedition to Iran. [[Berke]]'s persuasion might have forced his brother Batu to postpone Hulagu's operation, little suspecting that it would result in eliminating the Jochid predominance there for several years. During the reign of Batu or his first two successors, the Golden Horde dispatched a large Jochid delegation to participate in [[Hulagu]]'s expedition in the Middle East in 1256–1257.

One of the Jochid princes who joined Hulagu's army was accused of witchcraft and sorcery against Hulagu. After receiving permission from Berke, Hulagu executed him. After that two more Jochid princes died suspiciously. According to some Muslim sources, Hulagu refused to share his war booty with Berke in accordance with Genghis Khan's wish. Berke was a devoted Muslim who had had a close relationship with the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[Al-Musta'sim]], who had been killed by Hulagu in 1258. The Jochids believed that Hulagu's state eliminated their presence in the [[Transcaucasus]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Peter|editor=Abulafia, David|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 5, c. 1198–c. 1300|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bclfdU_2lesC&pg=PA709|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-36289-4|page=709|chapter=The Mongols and Europe}}</ref> Those events increased the anger of Berke and the war between the Golden Horde and the [[Ilkhanate]] soon broke out in 1262.

The increasing tension between Berke and Hulagu was a warning to the Golden Horde contingents in Hulagu's army to flee. One contingent reached the Kipchak Steppe, [[Negudar|another traversed Khorasan]], and a third body took refuge in [[Mamluk]] ruled [[Syria]] where they were well received by Sultan [[Baybars]] (1260–1277). Hulagu harshly punished the rest of the Golden Horde army in Iran. Berke sought a joint attack with Baybars and forged an alliance with the Mamluks against Hulagu. The Golden Horde dispatched the young prince [[Nogai Khan|Nogai]] to invade the Ilkhanate but Hulagu forced him back in 1262. The Ilkhanid army then crossed the [[Terek (river)|Terek River]], capturing an empty Jochid encampment, only to be routed in a surprise attack by Nogai's forces. Many of them were drowned as the ice broke on the frozen Terek River. The outbreak of conflict was made more annoying to Berke by the rebellion of [[Suzdal]] at the same time, killing Mongol [[darughachi]]s and tax-collectors. Berke planned a severe punitive expedition. But after [[Alexander Nevsky]] begged Berke not to punish his people, and the cities of [[Vladimir-Suzdal]] agreed to pay a large indemnity, Berke relented. Alexander died on his trip back in [[Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast|Gorodets]] on the Volga. He was well loved by the people and called the "sun of Suzdal".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/845782300 |title=The origins of the Slavic nations: premodern identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-511-24564-0 |pages=74 |language=en |oclc=845782300 |quote=As the transformation of St. Aleksandr Nevsky from 'son of Suzdal' to 'son of Rus&apos;' in early modern Muscovite literature well attests...}}</ref>
[[File:Golden Horde. Möngke (Mengu) Timur. AH 665-679 AD 1267-1280 Bulghar mint. Dated AH 672 or 3 (AD 1273-1275).jpg|thumb|Coinage of [[Mengu-Timur]]. Bulghar mint. Dated AH 672 or 3 (AD 1273–1275).]]
When the former [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk Sultan]] [[Kaykaus II]] was arrested in the [[Byzantine Empire]], his younger brother [[Kayqubad II]] appealed to Berke. An [[Egypt]]ian envoy was also detained there. With the assistance of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Kingdom of Bulgaria]] (Berke's vassal), Nogai invaded the Empire in 1265. By the next year, the Mongol-Bulgarian army was within reach of [[Constantinople]]. Nogai forced [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] to release Kaykaus and pay tribute to the Horde. Berke gave Kaykaus [[Khanate of Crimea|Crimea]] as an [[appanage]] and had him marry a Mongol woman. Hulagu died in February 1265 and Berke followed the next year while on campaign in [[Tiflis]], causing his troops to retreat.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=163}}

Ariq Böke had earlier placed Chagatai's grandson [[Alghu]] as [[Chagatayid Khan]], ruling Central Asia. He took control of [[Samarkand]] and [[Bukhara]]. When the Muslim elites and the Jochid retainers in Bukhara declared their loyalty to Berke, Alghu smashed the Golden Horde appanages in Khorazm. Alghu insisted Hulagu attack the Golden Horde; he accused Berke of purging his family in 1252. In Bukhara, he and Hulagu slaughtered all the retainers of the Golden Horde and reduced their families into slavery, sparing only the Great Khan Kublai's men.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barthold|first=W.|author-link=Vasily Bartold|title=Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zE2QPwAACAAJ&pg=PA446|year=2008|publisher=ACLS Humanities E-Book|isbn=978-1-59740-450-1|page=446|orig-year=1958}}</ref> After Berke gave his allegiance to Kublai, Alghu declared war on Berke, seizing [[Otrar]] and [[Khorazm]]. While the left bank of Khorazm would eventually be retaken, Berke had lost control over Transoxiana. In 1264 Berke marched past [[Tiflis]] to fight against Hulagu's successor [[Abaqa]], but he died en route.

=== Mengu-Timur (1266–1280) ===

[[File:Herberstein-Moscovia.jpg|thumb|left|Regions in the lower [[Volga]] inhabited by the descendants of [[Nogai Khan]]]]
Berke left no sons, so Batu's grandson [[Mengu-Timur]] was nominated by Kublai and succeeded his uncle Berke.{{sfnp|Howorth|1880|p=}} However, Mengu-Timur secretly supported the [[Ögedeid]] prince [[Kaidu]] against Kublai and the Ilkhanate. After the defeat of [[Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq]], a peace treaty was concluded in 1267 granting one-third of [[Transoxiana]] to Kaidu and Mengu-Timur.<ref>{{cite book|last=Biran|first=Michal|title=Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State In Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVffAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|year=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-80044-3|page=52}}</ref> In 1268, when a group of princes operating in Central Asia on Kublai's behalf mutinied and arrested two sons of the Qaghan (Great Khan), they sent them to Mengu-Timur. One of them, Nomoghan, favorite of Kublai, was located in the Crimea.<ref>{{cite book|last=Man|first=John|title=Kublai Khan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uV0ikDy7Qm8C&pg=PA229|year=2012|publisher=Transworld|isbn=978-1-4464-8615-3|page=229}}</ref> Mengu-Timur might have briefly struggled with Hulagu's successor [[Abagha]], but the Great Khan Kublai forced them to sign a peace treaty.<ref>{{cite book|last=Saunders|first=J. J.|title=The History of the Mongol Conquests|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFx3OlrBMpQC&pg=PA130|year=2001|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-1766-7|pages=130–132}}</ref> He was allowed to take his share in Persia. Independently from the Khan, Nogai expressed his desire to ally with [[Baibars]] in 1271. Despite the fact that he was proposing a joint attack on the Ilkhanate with the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks of Egypt]], Mengu-Timur congratulated Abagha when Baraq was defeated by the Ilkhan in 1270.<ref>{{cite book|last=Amitai-Preiss|first=Reuven|author-link=Reuven Amitai|title=Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFO-eV9cQ0sC&pg=PA88|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52290-8|pages=88–89}}</ref>

In 1267, Mengu-Timur issued a diploma (''[[jarliq]]'') to exempt [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian clergy]] from any taxation,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Storey |first1=R. L. |title=Chronology of the Medieval World: 800 to 1491 |date=1994 |publisher=Helicon |isbn=978-0-09-178264-1 |page=339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pEUAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Vásáry|2022|p=475|loc=only the Russian clergy was tax-exempt}} and gave to the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] and [[Venice]] exclusive trading rights in [[Caffa]] and [[Azov]]. Some of Mengu-Timur's relatives converted to Christianity at the same time and settled in Russia; one of them was a prince who settled in [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]] and became known as Tsarevich Peter of the Horde (Peter Ordynsky).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riha |first1=Thomas |title=Readings in Russian Civilization Volume I: Russia before Peter the Great, 900–1700 |date=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-71843-9 |page=191 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Bkddxc600IC |language=en |quote=the role of the Tatars who settled in Russia and were converted to Christianity... case of Tsarevich Peter of the Horde, founder of a monastery in Rostov}}</ref>{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=169}} Even though Nogai invaded the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] Byzantine Empire in 1271, the Khan sent his envoys to maintain friendly relationship with Michael VIII Palaiologos, who sued for peace and married one of his daughters, [[Euphrosyne Palaiologina (daughter of Michael VIII)|Euphrosyne Palaiologina]], to Nogai. Mengu-Timur ordered the grand prince of Vladimir to allow [[Germans|German]] merchants free travel through his lands. The gramota says:

{{blockquote|Mengu-Timur's word to Prince Yaroslav: give the German merchants way into your lands. From Prince Yaroslav to the people of [[Riga]], to the great and the young, and to all: your way is clear through my lands; and who comes to fight, with them I do as I know; but for the merchant the way is clear.<ref>Anton Cooper ''On the Edge of Empire: Novgorod's trade with the Golden Horde'', p. 19</ref>}}

This decree also allowed Novgorod's merchants to travel throughout the lands of Suzdal without restraint.<ref>GVNP, p. 13; Gramota#3</ref> Mengu Timur honored his vow: when the [[Danes]] and the [[Livonian Knights]] attacked the [[Novgorod Republic]] in 1269, the Khan's great {{transliteration|mn|italic=no|[[basqaq]] (darughachi)}}, Amraghan, and many Mongols assisted the army assembled by the grand prince Yaroslav. The Germans and the Danes were so cowed that they sent gifts to the Mongols and abandoned the region of [[Narva]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=[[Serge Aleksandr Zenkovsky|Zenkovsky]] |editor-first1=Serge A. |editor-last2=Zenkovsky |editor-first2=Betty Jean |title=The Nikonian Chronicle: From the year 1241 to the year 1381 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HtFoAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA45 |year=1986 |publisher=Kingston Press |isbn=978-0-940670-02-0 |page=45}}</ref> The Mongol Khan's authority extended to all principalities, and in 1274–1275 the census took place in all cities, including [[Smolensk]] and [[Vitebsk]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=172}}

In 1277, Mengu-Timur launched a campaign against the [[Alans]] north of the [[Caucasus]]. Along with the Mongol army were also some of the princes who were ordered to join him in his expedition, where they took the fortified stronghold of the Alans, [[Dadakov]], in 1278.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|pp=172–173}} After his Ossetian expedition, Mengu-Timur turned his attention to affairs with the Byzantine Empire and Egypt in an attempt to curb the authority of Nogai.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=173}} Following the death of [[Konstantin Tih|Constantine of Bulgaria]] in 1277, Michael VIII and Nogai supported different candidates to the throne, leading to relations to deteriorate.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|pp=173–174}} This led to an intervention by Mengu-Timur in Balkan affairs, in which Mengu-Timur and Metropolitan [[Kirill II of Kiev|Kirill]] sent Bishop Theognost as their joint envoy to Michael VIII and the patriarch of Constantinople with their respective gifts and letters.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=174}}

=== Dual khanship (1281–1299) ===

[[File:Toda Mongke and His Mongol Horde.jpg|thumb|[[Tode Mongke]] Khan of the Golden Horde]]
[[File:Galicia-Volhynia map.PNG|thumb|The Jochid vassal princes of [[Galicia-Volhynia]] contributed troops for [[Third Mongol invasion of Poland|invasions of Europe]] by [[Nogai Khan]] and [[Talabuga]].]]

Mengu-Timur was succeeded in 1281 by his brother [[Töde Möngke]], who was a Muslim. However, [[Nogai Khan]] was now strong enough to establish himself as an independent ruler. The Golden Horde was thus ruled by two khans.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=174}}

Töde Möngke made peace with Kublai, returned his sons to him, and acknowledged his supremacy.<ref>Rashid al ''Din-II Successors (Boyle)'', p. 897</ref>{{sfnp|Allsen|1985|p=21}} Nogai and [[Köchü]], Khan of the White Horde and son of Orda Khan, also made peace with the [[Yuan dynasty]] and the [[Ilkhanate]]. According to [[Mamluk]] historians, Töde Möngke sent the Mamluks a letter proposing to fight against their common enemy, the unbelieving Ilkhanate. This indicates that he might have had an interest in Azerbaijan and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], which were both ruled by the Ilkhans.

In the 1270s, Nogai had raided Bulgaria,<ref>{{cite book|last=Curta|first=Florin|title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250|url=https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt|url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81539-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt/page/414 414]}}</ref> as well as Lithuania.{{sfnp|Howorth|1880|p=130}} He blockaded [[Michael Asen II]] inside [[Silistra|Drăstăr]] in 1279 and executed the rebel emperor [[Ivailo]] in 1280. The king, [[George Terter I]], married Nogai's daughter and acknowledged Mongol overlordship but was forced to flee by a local boyar and sought refuge in the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1295.{{sfn|Jackson|2014|p=203}} In 1284, [[Isaccea|Saqchi]] came under the Mongol rule during the major invasion of Bulgaria, and coins were struck in the Khan's name.<ref>Byzantino ''Tatarica'', p. 209</ref>{{sfn|Jackson|2014|p=203}} [[Smilets]] was installed by Nogai as emperor of Bulgaria. Accordingly, the reign of Smilets has been considered the height of Mongol overlordship in Bulgaria. When he was expelled by a local [[boyar]]s {{Circa|1295}}, the Mongols launched another invasion to protect their protege. Nogai compelled Serbian king [[Stefan Milutin]] to accept Mongol supremacy and received his son, [[Stefan Dečanski]], as hostage in 1287. Under his rule, the [[Vlachs]], Slavs, [[Alans]], and [[Turco-Mongol]]s lived in modern-day [[Moldavia]].

At the same time, the influence of Nogai greatly increased in the Golden Horde. Backed by him, some princes, such as [[Dmitry of Pereslavl]], refused to visit the court of Töde Möngke in Sarai, while Dmitry's brother [[Andrey of Gorodets]] sought assistance from Töde Möngke. Nogai vowed to support Dmitry in his struggle for the grand princely throne. On hearing about this, Andrey renounced his claims to Vladimir and Novgorod and returned to Gorodets. He returned with Mongol troops sent by Töde Möngke and seized Vladimir from Dmitry. Dmitry retaliated with the support of Mongol troops from Nogai and retook his holdings. In 1285, Andrey again led a Mongol army under a [[Borjigin]] prince to Vladimir, but Dmitry expelled them.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=177}}

In 1283, Mengu-Timur converted to [[Islam]] and abandoned state affairs. Rumors spread that the khan was mentally ill and only cared for clerics and sheikhs. In 1285, Talabuga and Nogai [[Second Mongol invasion of Hungary|invaded Hungary]]. While Nogai was successful in subduing [[Slovakia]], Talabuga stalled north of the [[Carpathian Mountains]]. Talabuga's soldiers were angered and sacked [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] and [[Volhynia]] instead. In 1286, Talabuga and Nogai [[Third Mongol invasion of Poland|attacked Poland]] and ravaged the country. After returning, Talabuga overthrew Töde Möngke, who was left to live in peace. Talabuga's army made unsuccessful attempts to invade the Ilkhanate in 1288 and 1290.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=178}}

During a punitive expedition against the [[Circassians]], Talabuga became resentful of Nogai, whom he believed did not provide him with adequate support during the invasions of [[Hungary]] and [[Poland]]. Talabuga challenged Nogai, but was defeated in a [[coup]] and replaced with [[Toqta]] in 1291.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}}

Andrey, accompanied by a number of Rostov princes and the bishop of Rostov, went to Toqta to renew his patent and complain about Dmitry.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} [[Mikhail Yaroslavich]] was summoned to appear before Nogai in Sarai, where he chose to side with Nogai and went to him instead for confirmation of his throne, while Dmitry refused to appear, considering himself to be a vassal of Nogai.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} [[Daniel of Moscow|Daniel]], Alexander Nevsky's youngest son, failed to appear at the court of Toqta.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} The division of the authority of the Golden Horde led to the creation of two rival groups of Russian princes.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} Toqta attempted to reassert his authority over [[northern Russia]];{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} he confirmed Andrey as the grand prince and authorized him to depose Dmitry, who refused to surrender his throne.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=185}} Toqta sent a punitive expedition led by his brother, [[Dyuden]], to punish those stubborn subjects, leading to the sacking of a number of cities in 1293, including Vladimir and Moscow, finally forcing Dmitry to abdicate.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=186}} Only the city of Tver offered stiff resistance to the Mongol invaders, leading to another Mongol army being sent to attack the city.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=186}} Nogai did not choose to intervene in Russian affairs but was concerned by Toqta's actions; he found it necessary to remind Toqta that he still held supreme power in the affairs of the Golden Horde and consequently sent his senior wife to Toqta in 1293, where she was received with due honor.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=186}} In the same year, Nogai sent an army to [[Serbia]] and forced the king to acknowledge himself as a vassal.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=186}}

[[File:Golden Horde. Töde Möngke (Mengu). AH 679-687 AD 1280-1287 Qrim (Crimea) mint.jpg|thumb|Coinage of [[Töde Möngke]] (Mengu). AH 679–687 AD 1280–1287 Qrim ([[Crimea]]) mint.]]
Nogai's daughter married a son of Kublai's niece, Kelmish, who was wife of a [[Qongirat]] general of the Golden Horde. Nogai was angry with Kelmish's family because her [[Buddhist]] son despised his Muslim daughter. For this reason, he demanded Toqta send Kelmish's husband to him. Nogai's independent actions relating to Russian affairs and foreign merchants had already irritated Toqta. Toqta thus refused and declared war on Nogai. Toqta was defeated in their first battle. Nogai's army turned their attention to [[Caffa]] and [[Soldaia]], looting both cities. Within two years, Toqta returned and killed Nogai in 1299 at the Kagamlik, near the [[Dnieper]]. Toqta had his son stationed troops in Saqchi and along the [[Danube]] as far as the Iron Gate.<ref>Baybars al ''Mansuri-Zubdat al-Fikra'', p. 355</ref> Nogai's son [[Chaka of Bulgaria]], first escaped to the Alans, and then Bulgaria where he briefly ruled as emperor before he was murdered by [[Theodore Svetoslav]] on the orders of Toqta.{{sfnp|Spuler|1943|p=78}}

After Mengu-Timur died, rulers of the Golden Horde withdrew their support from [[Kaid]]u, the head of the [[House of Ögedei]]. Kaidu tried to restore his influence in the Golden Horde by sponsoring his own candidate Kobeleg against [[Bayan (khan)|Bayan]] ({{reigned|1299|1304}}), Khan of the White Horde.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barthold|first=V.V.|author-link=Vasily Bartold|title=Four Studies on Central Asia|translator-first1=V. |translator-last1=Minorsky |translator-first2=T. |translator-last2=Minorsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=McYUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA127 |publisher=Brill |page=127}}</ref> After taking military support from Toqta, Bayan asked help from the Yuan dynasty and the Ilkhanate to organize a unified attack on the [[Chagatai Khanate]] under the leadership of Kaidu and his second-in-command [[Duwa]]. However, the Yuan court was unable to send quick military support.<ref>{{cite book|last=Grousset|first=René|title=The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou|url-access=registration|year=1970|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou/page/335 335]}}</ref>

=== General peace (1299–1312) ===
{{Mongol Empire in 1300|right}}
From 1300 to 1302, a severe drought occurred in the areas surrounding the [[Black Sea]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=189}} However, the troubles were soon overcome and conditions in the Golden Horde rapidly improved under Toqta's reign. After the defeat of [[Nogai Khan]], his followers either fled to [[Podolia]] or remained under the service of Toqta, to become what would eventually be known as the [[Nogai Horde]].{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=190}}

Toqta established the [[Byzantine-Mongol alliance]] by marrying [[Maria Palaiologina]], an illegitimate daughter of [[Andronikos II Palaiologos]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Vásáry|first=István|title=Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DJWyg97IggC&pg=PA91|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-44408-8|page=91}}</ref> A report reached Western Europe that Toqta was highly favourable to the Christians.<ref>Ptolemy of Lucca ''Annales'', p. 237</ref> According to Muslim observers, however, Toqta remained an [[Idol worship|idol-worshiper]] ([[Buddhism]] and [[Tengerism]]) and showed favour to religious men of all faiths, though he preferred Muslims.<ref>{{cite book|last=DeWeese|first=Devin|title=Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba TŸkles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ut77eAbMUHoC&pg=PA99|year=2010|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-04445-3|page=99}}</ref>

He demanded that the Ilkhan [[Ghazan]] and his successor [[Oljeitu]] give Azerbaijan back but was refused. Then he sought assistance from Egypt against the Ilkhanate. Toqta made his man ruler in [[Ghazna]], but he was expelled by its people. Toqta dispatched a peace mission to the Ilkhan [[Gaykhatu]] in 1294, and peace was maintained mostly uninterrupted until 1318.<ref>{{cite book|last=Boyle|first=J. A.|author-link=John Andrew Boyle|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16yHq5v3QZAC&pg=PA374|year=1968 |editor-last=Boyle |editor-first=J. A. |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-06936-6|page=374|chapter=Dynastic and Political History of the Il-Khans}}</ref>

In 1304, ambassadors from the Mongol rulers of Central Asia and the Yuan dynasty announced to Toqta their general peace proposal. Toqta immediately accepted the supremacy of Yuan emperor [[Temür Öljeytü]], and all [[yam (route)|yams (postal relays)]] and commercial networks across the Mongol khanates reopened. Toqta introduced the general peace among the Mongol khanates to the Russian princes at the assembly in [[Pereslavl-Zalessky|Pereyaslavl]] (Pereslavl-Zalessky).{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}} The Yuan influence seemed to have increased in the Golden Horde as some of Toqta's coins carried [['Phags-pa script]] in addition to Mongolian script and Persian characters.<ref>Badarch Nyamaa – The coins of Mongol Empire and clan tamgna of khans (XIII–XIV) (Монеты монгольских ханов), Ch. 2.</ref>
[[File:Bulgaria Theodore Svetoslav.png|thumb|left|The [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] was still tributary to the Mongols in 1308.{{sfnp|Jackson|2014|p=204}}]] As the head of the [[Mongol Empire]], the Mongol Great Khans of the Yuan sent 100 dings of silver and 300 bolts of silk to the Golden Horde every year<ref>Kim, Hodong. "Formation and Changes of Uluses in the Mongol Empire", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 62, 2-3 (2019): 269-317, doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685209-12341480, p.306</ref> and the Jochid ruler Toqta was given additional fiefs in China for his diplomatic and military assistance to the Great Khan.<ref>Юрченко А.Г., Хан Узбек. Между империей и исламом. Структуры повседневности (Евразия, 2012)</ref> Unlike the early years of the Mongol Empire, only the Great Khan's agents governed Chinese fiefs on the behalf of the Yuan and the Golden Horde until the collapse of the Mongol rule in China.<ref>https://spb.hse.ru/data/2013/03/15/1291891310/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%B2%20-%20%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B08%20(%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%82).pdf</ref>

On his southwestern borders, Toqta arrested the Italian residents of Sarai and [[Genoese–Mongol Wars|besieged Caffa]] in 1307. The cause was apparently Toqta's displeasure at the Genoese slave trade of his subjects, who were mostly sold as soldiers to Egypt.{{sfnp|Spuler|1943|p=84}} In 1308, Caffa was plundered by the Mongols.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=191}}

During the late reign of Toqta, tensions between princes of Tver and Moscow became violent. [[Daniel of Moscow]] seized the town of [[Kolomna]] from [[Principality of Ryazan|Ryazan]], which turned to the local ''[[basqaq]]'' for protection.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}} However, this did not deter Daniel, who defeated the Ryazan and Mongol troops in 1301, and then seized [[Mozhaysk]] in 1303 and then Pereslavl-Zalessky, which threw off the already weak balance of interprincely relations.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}} Daniel may have been motivated to round out his appanage, which in terms of the modern administrative divisions of Russia, was not larger than [[Moskovsky Uyezd]] before 1917.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}} His tenacity laid the pattern for his successors to become the rulers of all of Russia proper.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}}

Toqta organized a new conference for the princes in Pereslavl-Zalessky in the autumn of 1304, which was attended by leading princes including [[Andrey of Gorodets|Andrey of Vladimir]], [[Mikhail of Tver]], and [[Yury of Moscow]], Daniel's eldest son who succeeded him after his death in March 1304.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=193}} [[Maximos, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'|Maximos]], the metropolitan of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], was also in attendance.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=194}} Toqta possibly intended to completely transform the political organization of his Russian ulus, though there is little information about the last years of his reign, with there only being accounts in the Russian annals of the interrelations among the princes, while Arab and Persian chroniclers focused on the Golden Horde's relations with Egypt and Iran.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=195}} Toqta probably intended to eliminate the special status of the grand principality of Vladimir, and to place all the Russian princes on the same level as his vassals with a definite appanage assigned to each one of them.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=195}} Toqta decided to personally visit northern Russia to settle the conflict between the princes, but he fell ill and died while crossing the Volga in 1312, according to the writer who continued [[Rashid al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]]'s ''History''.{{sfn|Vernadsky|1953|p=195}}