By Wikipedia A MODERN STATUE, GOLDEN IN COLOR, decorates the heart of the main street of Sidi Abu Zeid. It seems to resemble a carved elephant tusk. Even in…
The Ulus of Jochi or the Golden Horde is an East Slavic designation for the Mongol—later Turkicized—Muslim khanate established in the western part of the Mongol Empire after the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the 1240s: present-day Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus. Also known as Kipchak Khanate (not to be confused with the earlier Kipchak khanate prior to its conquest by the Mongols), the territory of the Golden Horde at its peak included most of Eastern Europe from the Urals to the right banks of the Danube River, extending east deep into Siberia. On the south, the Golden Horde's lands bordered on the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the territories of the Mongol dynasty known as the Ilkhanate. The origins of the name "Golden Horde" is uncertain. Some scholars believe that it refers to the army camp of Batu and the later rulers of the Horde. In Mongolian, Altan Orda refers to the golden camp or palace . Altan (golden) was also the color connoting imperial status. Other sources mention that Batu had a golden tent, and it is from this that the Golden Horde received its name. While this legend is persistent, no one is positive of the origin of the term. In most contemporary sources, the Golden Horde was referred to as the Khanate of the Qipchaq, as the Qipchaq Turks comprised the majority of the nomadic population in the region. After Batu's death in 1255, the prosperity of his dynasty lasted for a full century until 1359, though the intrigues of Nogai did invoke a partial civil war in the late 1290s. The Horde's military clout peaked during the reign of Uzbeg (1312–41), who adopted Islam as state religion. Beginning in 1359 the Golden Horde had begun to experience violent internal political disorder before it was briefly reunited under Tokhtamysh in 1381. However, soon after the 1396 invasion of Tamerlane, it broke into smaller Tatar khanates that declined steadily in power until 1502.
